American Drago: Eric's Journey
by Dragon Kaiju Prince
Summary: Drago returns and recruits a new young face in his latest goal for power and world domination, but he didn't count on crossing paths with the J-Team and Team American Dragon. Not only that, but Eric, Drago's newest recruit, has a destiny of his own to fulfill that may tip the balance of the universe. Includes elements from Legend of Zelda, Godzilla and the Divine Comedy.
1. Chapter 1

_Prologue: Starting a Fire_

Eric seemed like most people his age: he was a young man that lived in Central Ohio, worked at a part-time job just to get by and hopefully to pay for more college classes, secretly wishing for more for his life but didn't know how to proceed. But what he didn't know that events would transpire that would change his life.

Eric worked at an Adult Day Rehabilitation center located just downtown, about an hour's drive from home where he simply did minor things around the center such as tending to some of the clients' needs, cleaning and filling out minor reports for the consumers. It was difficult for Eric to talk with people, even the clients, as he was a very shy person with a unique sense of taste, preferring what he called "geeky stuff": art (more specifically drawing), watching science fiction/fantasy/action films and shows and playing related video games. Because of his unique personality it was hard for him to fit in with everyone else and so a great deal of disappointments have lead him down life's road and so Eric felt a great emptiness inside that he wished he could fill, but he just did not know how to move forward.

One day he sat down with a stack of files he was to fill out for that day. His brown eyes scanned the words and numbers as he lazily scratched his dark brown hair, trying to figure out which one to start. He was glad it was almost the end of the day so he could head home and relax. That day however was a little different, his boss, Brian, called the staff into the office area for a brief meeting. Eric sighed quietly; it was probably something to do with the staff's work proficiency. Brian announced that they had obtained resources for a new method of mental therapy. This method uses sensory simulation to analyze the brain's stimuli. Eric was interested, he always had in interest in psychology, and maybe this could help the clients and others. Then Brian said that they were looking for volunteers to experiment with this new technique. Eric's interest had piqued, maybe if this method could be perfected, it could help with his own inner depression, and he asked to volunteer.

"Are you good to go, Eric?" Brian asked his newest employee in his distinctive middle-eastern accent. Eric nodded nervously; he was always skittish around his superiors, especially his boss. "Okay, we're ready whenever you're ready." Brian lead Eric into the backroom of the center's office, a place Eric saw so little of. He had been in the office every once in a while in order to speak directly with Brian or Michelle, the center's human resource manager. It had the usual stuff one would expect to see in an office, desks, computers and a conference table, and it even featured two beds for clients to rest in if they weren't feeling well.

Today however there was something new, a machine was set up in the middle of the floor, it resembled a normal reclining chair with electrodes and other cords hooked up to it and several computers in the room. "Okay, Eric, this is how our experiment will work, we'll have you sit in this chair and watch some simulations we've set up, while you're watching these simulations we'll use these electrodes to scan your brainwaves," Brian explained the procedure.

Eric suddenly became alert, "Simulations? What do you mean by that?"

Brian replied, "It's kind of like virtual reality, but it's a little different," Eric grew apprehensive of his boss' response. "Don't worry, it's not really intense or anything, but you know this is real bold of you to volunteer, you don't have to go through with this if you don't want to."

"No, it's…it's all right." Eric answered solemnly.

"Well okay then, we'll get started then." Brian helped Eric attach the electrodes to Eric's head, an awkward moment, then Eric reclined back in his chair, it almost felt like a visit to the dentist. Next a panel revolved in front of Eric's face, soon the visit to the dentist turned into a visit to an MRI machine at the hospital. Eric then realized that the panel was a sort of monitor, probably where the simulations would be viewed.

A voice came over the intercom inside the machine. "Eric, this is Michelle, we're preparing for the procedure, and we're almost ready so just hang in there okay?" Eric sighed and nodded, he wondered why things like this were never ready to go right when you get ready? Well at least Brian had scheduled the experiment on a day after work when Eric did not have anything to tend to at home. He even thought maybe he could get lucky and enter the extra time on his time card and get a little more money for it. "Okay, get ready, Eric, we're starting right now."

The monitor hummed to life in front of Eric's eyes. What happened then blew Eric away. The images he saw were right up his ally, on the screen he saw scenes that one might find out of medieval or renaissance fair, or perhaps a science fiction and fantasy film, some of his favorite things in the world. He saw knights and warriors wielding swords and other weapons. One scene he saw a knight clad in green and wielding a sword going into battle against armies of foes, ranging from squat goblins and lizard people to enormous beasts. Another scene featured a robed figure patrolling the streets and rooftops and other scenes featured a young warrior climbing the back of a giant with a sword in hand. But what was most incredible about the experience was that it almost felt like he was there, like he was the warriors he saw in the simulations, he could see, hear, smell and feel the same sensations as the people in the simulations.

After about an hour the simulations ended and the monitor moved back into position, the experiment was so engrossing that Eric almost forgot where he was. Brian and Michelle stepped towards Eric. "So, what did you think?" Brian asked almost casually. Eric was still so mesmerized by the experiment he could not immediately find the words he needed to say, Brian almost chuckled at his employee's response.

When Eric finally gathered himself up enough to speak, he asked what had happened. Michelle explained that the machine Eric was in was called an ANIMUS, a device that could analyze, decode and store people's memories like data files on a computer. Eric was amazed to learn that those seemingly surreal simulations were the true memories of real people. Over the next few weeks Brian and Michelle asked Eric to come back for more sessions. The experience was so intoxicating that Eric couldn't refuse. Brian and Michelle also allowed Eric to use their computer systems. From them he learned that certain supernatural phenomenon were actual events and seemingly mythological ideas such as creatures and items were real and that secret government agencies had been formed to cover up such incidents to prevent them from leaking into the populace to prevent panic. Not only that, but because of his sessions, Eric developed unusual abilities, mainly skills similar to those that the warriors in the simulations expressed. Michelle explained that this was a "bleeding affect," somehow because of his experiences with the simulations Eric's mind had adopted these skills as well. These would prove useful in protecting his life.

One day the whole town was in an uproar, strange creatures had invaded, destroying buildings, vehicles and anything that got in their way. These creatures were none other than Drago and his posse. Drago, the infamous teenage son of the Fire Demon, Shendu, was a green, anthropomorphic dragon with a fiery temper. He believed himself to be the true ruler of the world and made it his goal to conquer it, enslaving humanity and filling the world with dragons and demons. His henchmen: Strike Master Ice, MC Cobra and DJ Fist, were a trio of thugs who Drago recruited and infused them with his own dragon chi, turning them into human/dragon hybrids like him. And the posse was on a mission.

"Yo, D-Man, are you sure this itty bitty talisman thing is here?" Ice asked his leader.

"Yes, I am absolutely sure the Dragon Talisman is here somewhere, I can sense it. It's one of my father's talismans, so I know we're on the right track." Drago growled in reply, "Why, do you dare doubt my senses?"

"Whoa whoa, boss, no way we doubt you, you da boss, boss!" Ice replied.

"Well if you slackers don't have any more questions, let's get moving!"

"But boss," Cobra spoke up, "why do you want to swipe your pops' bling bling?"

Drago sighed, "Those Chans have been getting to become a real thorn in my tail; with this talisman I can boost my firepower. I don't know how it was passed off from Section 13 but we'll find it."

The posse's search led them straight to the very center where Eric worked at. When Brian learned that Drago was approaching, he had his staff begin evacuating the clients immediately. The four dragons shattered the front door in a blaze. "All right, listen up y'all! I'm here for the Dragon Talisman! Give it to me right now and no one will be harmed!"

Eric was helping Brian evacuate the clients when Ice stepped into the room. "Yo, you all heard the D-man!" Eric stood protectively in front of the clients to protect them from the delinquent's ill intent. "Hey, tubby, didn't you hear us? Don't get in our way or you'll feel the burn!" Ice sneered, but Eric, albeit nervously, stood firm. "Fine by me, I enjoy beating an idiot or two, now, which one will be my first pick?" Ice extended one of his evil claws, reaching for one of the clients, a young woman, when suddenly a hand grabbed the thug's wrist, "Huh?"

"Hands off!" Eric proclaimed before hurling Ice over his shoulder. When Ice hit the floor realization hit Eric. He had just thrown his opponent over his shoulder and he was surprised. Eric was normally a shy, almost submissive person, hardly capable of any bold actions, with such thoughts being suppressed, now he underhanded a formidably dangerous criminal.

Ice groaned, rubbing the back of his head from the fall. "Grrr…why you little punk!" Ice lunged at Eric, but Eric, in an almost clumsy fashion, managed to dodge the dragon thug's blows. Fear and adrenaline were just the motivators Eric needed to focus and keep himself from getting clobbered. Eric glanced around the room, looking for something to protect himself from Ice, when he spotted a plastic, yellow baseball bat the center used to entertain the clients. Eric waited for his chance, then lunged out of the way of one of Ice's punches, and snatched up the bat. Ice delivered some more punches and kicks, this time Eric used the bat to block the blows until finally Eric drew back and took a mighty swing with the bat, hitting Ice in the side of the face, stunning him. With his opponent stunned Eric continued to beat Ice with the bat, although the baseball bat was made of plastic, it still packed a punch and therefore made an efficient weapon. Eric delivered a coup de grace, knocking Ice off his clawed feet.

Just as Eric was about to continue beating the crap out of his enemy Ice opened his mouth and blew a small ember on the bat, causing the plastic toy to melt and become useless, Eric feverishly tossed it away before it burned his hands. Ice growled, "Gah, you weren't supposed to be this tough! Hey, Cobra, a little helps over here?"

Eric then felt and heard a breeze behind, "Comin' right up, Ice-man!" Eric turned just in time to see Cobra roundhouse kick him in the face, sending him hurtling into a table. Nearby an amused Drago watched the whole event unfold and grinned, almost enjoying watching his henchmen being humbled by a simple human.

Now Ice and Cobra had the upper hand, pinning Eric under a chair and were about to have their way with him. "Stop! That's enough!" All heads turned in the direction of the voice. Brian stepped forward, holding something small in his hand. "This is what you're after isn't it? Just take it and leave." In his hand he held a small, octagon-shaped stone object with the clear image of a dragon painted on its front and Chinese-writing on the back.

An evil and triumphant smile came over Drago's smug face as he claimed the Dragon Talisman. "A pleasure doing business with you I assure you," Drago sarcastically proclaimed, "Ice, Fist, Cobra, let's go!"

Cobra and Ice, still standing over their pinned prey, glanced back at their leader with shock, "What? But boss, this punk was getting up all in our grills here; shouldn't we teach him a lesson?" Ice whined.

"Save it, we don't have time for your petty squabbles; the sooner we get my plans done the better."

Both Ice and Cobra groaned, Cobra quickly joined Drago and Fist's sides. Ice glared down at Eric, "You got lucky this time, punk, if we weren't in a hurry my boys and I would beat the living tar out of you!" After his verbal threat Ice joined his companions. All four leapt out of the entrance they created. Drago was the last to exit and just as he was about to step out the door he glanced back at Eric and grinned, then continued on his way.

Michelle attended to the clients and made sure no one was hurt. Brian quickly rushed to Eric's aid, lifting the chair pinning him down off him. "Are you all right, Eric?" a concerned Brian asked. Eric nodded his solemnly. "I'm impressed, I guess those sessions have been paying off, eh?"

Eric smiled meekly before asking, "What was that thing you gave those guys? And why did they want it so badly?"

"Oh, that thing, it was just an artifact that we borrowed from some friends. It's called one of the Twelve Talismans of Shendu, it was the Dragon Talisman." Brian explained in detail. Eric nodded in understanding, he had read about the ancient dragon that had conquered China long ago but was ultimately defeated and reduced to being a stone statue while his supernatural powers were divided and transformed into twelve talismans, each represented by an animal from the Chinese zodiac.

But then another thought came to mind, "Why did WE have it?"

"Well the Dragon Talisman has the power of combustion, the power to create and control fire and we had been using the power to energize the ANIMUS as it requires a vast amount of energy to operate. Sadly this means we won't be continuing our sessions until we can find a substitute energy source to fuel it." Brian answered in a slightly somber tone.

"Aren't you mad it's gone?" Eric asked.

Brian smiled and shrugged his shoulders calmly, "Not much, the most important thing is the safety of our clients, if losing the talisman would guarantee that then I'm fine, by the way thank you so much for bravely protecting them from those delinquents."

The center's staff eventually was able to calm down the clients and get them home quickly. Brian called the police and filed a report on the incident while Michelle called some construction companies to help repair the damage. Because of what happened at the center Eric and the other staff were dismissed for the day earlier than usual. On his way home four pairs of snake-like eyes watched as his car pull away. "So, what are we still doing here, boss? I thought we got what we came for?"

"Boys, I think it's time for some fresh blood…"

Eric was glad he didn't have to pick up his mother from work; she was always in a foul mood after work and would always pick fights with him. As he drove along the main roads leading home, he listened to the songs on the radio and his thoughts and feelings flowed freely like a river. After a hard day's work Eric was granted a few moments of solace where he could contemplate his life and himself. Like most people he wasn't satisfied with his life. Besides befriending some of the clients at work, Eric did not have any true friends. It was hard for him to talk to people as not very many people could truly understand his feelings, especially since he was often overlooked by his family.

Things seemed to change however when Eric fell in love with a girl he met over the internet, and for a time she loved him back. The two of them talked about their deepest thoughts and feelings without fear of being judged. To Eric his love was the perfect example of a true, pure Christian person. Eric was an unorthodox Catholic, while he believed in Christianity there were some generally assumed beliefs in the religion that he did not agree with, to compensate this he developed his own sense of what Christianity truly was supposed to be, his beliefs were more flexible and tolerant than most people who claim to be Christian. Sadly, good things never seem to last, the two of them finally did meet in person and when things seemed to move on to the next step in their relationship, for some unknown reason she abandoned Eric, she claimed it was because of the physical distance between them, that she felt their relationship was going nowhere and that she felt uncomfortable towards him. Eric was devastated, he had lost the one true friend and love he had and his whole reason for living. After that his grades declined and everything else seemed to fall apart, he tried talking to others about his feelings but most people failed to realize how he felt. Unfortunate sequences of disappointments have leaded his life. The smiles he showed the world were simply a mask that he forcibly hewn on his face, in reality on the inside he was crying.

After about a half hour Eric's car started to slow down to a stop. He groaned in frustration, was the car breaking down again? Fortunately he had stopped in the parking lot of a restaurant and off the main road just before the car died. He climbed out of the car just to take a few breaths of fresh air as there wasn't anything he knew he could do to help the situation.

While this was happening three green, scaly shapes surrounded him, Drago and his posse had followed Eric, his brown eyes darted back and forth between the four dragons; Ice, Cobra and Fist especially had evil gleams in their eyes. "All right, fool, it's time for a rematch!" Ice announced.

"Ice! That's not why we're here." Drago chastised his underling.

"What? What do you mean that's not why we're here? I thought we were going to get back at this punk for messin' us up!" Ice countered.

"Just shut it! I have my own plans." Drago calmly approached Eric. "Listen, I think we came off on the wrong foot here. I was watching you while you were handing a beating to Ice over there," Drago pointed a thumb towards Ice.

"Hey!"

"Anyway, I must say I was impressed with your combat skills, I could use someone like you in my organization."

Cobra was hysterical. "What? You mean you're going to ask this guy to join us?"

Drago growled and turned towards him, "You're lucky I don't give him your jobs!"

Eric finally spoke up, "But why would I join you? You tried to hurt innocent people!"

Drago chuckled and smiled calmly, "I never intended to hurt anyone, only my enemies need fear my wrath, while we may cause some property damage, I intend to preserve as much human life as I can, after all we will need as many servants when dragons return to the world."

"WE dragons?" Eric asked.

"Oh yes, I can tell just by looking at you. You are constantly tormented by many things in your life, people don't respect you or your feelings and you are constantly faced with disappointments, but you have the spirit of the dragon sleeping deep within, you just haven't awakened that side of you yet! Come with me, Eric, I will help you realize your full potential as a true dragon, and with that power you will be able to gain whatever you desire and regain anything you've lost and dragons will rule the world!"

Eric turned away, being a religious person he knew this was a deal with the devil. But what Drago said did make sense; he always felt a void, emptiness, deep inside, a desire and companionship that could not be fulfilled. The only time the emptiness had been filled was when Eric was in love and he finally had someone in his life, but that void had only grown a thousand fold when she left him. And inside he felt like he was truly a dragon. Although he was a Christian, he felt that God had condemned his life to being unfulfilled and unhappy. A voice was telling him "Do it, accept the deal." All he wanted now was to get back at everyone and everything in his life that had held him back from his desires. And so Eric accepted.

Somewhere within the deepest recesses of the cosmos, where the light never shown, someone's haughty eyes shone and an evil, triumphant smile graced his face. "Well done, Drago, because of you I now have one more soul!" Laughter broke out in the abyss, over the crying and screaming...

"Very well, you shall now become one of us, the dragons!" Drago stepped forward and held up his hand. In his palm he held the Dragon Talisman. Eric suddenly became fearful, he knew the talisman's true power and he feared Drago wished to use it to kill him. From the talisman emerged a stream of fire that moved fluidly as if it were alive. The flame took on the form of a dragon's head and wrapped itself around Eric's body. Rather than the searing heat of fire Eric felt a more gentle sense of warmth. With the fire embracing him Eric's physical features began to change: his skin toughened, transforming into a mix of greenish dragon scales and human flesh, the nails on his fingers and toes extended and became talons, the hair on his head congealed into a mass of spikes, his ears lengthened slightly and became pointy, and a tail and a pair of wings emerged from his back side. He was now an anthropomorphic dragon, just like Drago and his posse.

Drago was intrigued by this new transformation while Ice, Cobra and Fist were bewildered. "Hey, D-man, how come the new guy gets all these new perks?" Strike Master Ice exclaimed unhappily.

"Yeah, I mean I like having Dragon Speed and Fire, but he's got wings! How come we don't get wings?" Cobra moaned.

"You're transformations into dragons was caused when I gave you a taste of my Fire Chi. Eric's transformation stems from me unlocking his true dragon self with just the smallest influence of my chi, but I must say I am impressed." Drago explained.

Eric examined his new form, bringing his clawed hands to his face and extending his wings and tail into view. Then he glanced at his reflection in the restaurant's window, admiring his new draconic bust. At first Eric was surprised and frightened, almost in disbelief that what Drago had done was real, but these feelings were soon replaced with admiration and pride, he was now a true dragon, one of his greatest dreams had been fulfilled.

Of course a human-sized dragon gazing at himself through the reflection of a restaurant window did not bode well for all the customers inside, everyone could clearly see all five of the dragons standing in the parking lot and panicked, fleeing the building entirely.

"All right! No people in line, let's grab some grub!" Ice, Cobra and Fist all leapt over the counter and began raiding the place for food.

Drago and Eric followed soon after. "Well, I'd say this was a momentous day, how about we celebrate?" Drago turned and exhaled fire over the grills, cooking any food still left after everyone left. Drago's three henchmen soon came out with buns and condiments and helped themselves to hamburgers, fries, chicken and anything else just lying around. Drago himself couldn't help but treat himself to a bite to eat. The only one who didn't join in was Eric, he felt a little guilty for stealing the restaurant's food. Drago noticed Eric's reluctance and smiled, "Come on, you've earned a treat," and tossed Eric a hamburger. He finally gave in and took a big bite out of the sandwich.

_Chapter 1: The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword?_

Over the past few days Eric learned dragon powers and combat skills from Drago and he slowly adjusted becoming part of the group. While Ice, Cobra and Fist did not take their roles as dragon warriors seriously, Eric acted as their foil and was a little more loyal to Drago's cause. The son of Shendu and his new apprentice formed an odd sort of friendship. Unlike Drago, however, Eric was able to help keep casualties to a minimum. Soon Drago had a new mission for his group, but this would test the team's integrity.

"So, D-man, where is this Sword of Louis Doghouse or something rather at anyway?" Ice asked.

Drago rolled his red eyes before replying. "It's called the Sword of Lü Dongbin, and it just so happens that the sword is going to be on display in a museum in San Fran."

"So, why do you want this old sword for, man?" asked Cobra.

"This was the same sword that was used to defeat my old man, so his chi was rubbed off a little on it."

"But you already have fire chi, why do you want to collect your father's chi?" Eric asked.

"It's so very true that my fire power is great, but once I get my claws on my dad's chi my fire power will be increased. It's about time the old gecko was some use," Drago grinned in amusement, a feeling of triumph over his father, they finally arrived "We're here, get ready."

The five of them casually strolled through the front door of the museum. Museum visitors and curators who caught sight of the dragons immediately panicked and fled in fear. Drago gave a hearty chuckle, "Yes, run away you chickens! We have no use for you!" Soon several security guards showed up and aimed their handguns at them. Eric draped himself in his wings, hoping to shield himself from the bullets but before the bullets could come close enough Drago summoned a wave of fire in front of the group with a wave of his hand, disintegrating them. The guards were shocked and frightened by this display of power. "Stupid humans!" Drago snarled as he, Ice, Cobra and Fist mopped the floor with the guards. Eric, however, did nothing but watch. Once that was finished the five of them proceeded. Eric paused for a moment to glance at the fallen security guards to make sure they were still alive, he saw them groaning in pain and covered in bruises but nothing else seemed wrong with them so he followed Drago.

The dragons explored the museum grounds with no resistance as everyone had either fled or were beaten. It wasn't long till they found a section displaying artifacts from ancient China. "The sword is near; I can smell my father's foul stench on it! This way!" The sword was contained in a glass case (like all stereotypical items on display in a museum) and carelessly smashed the glass, revealing the sword in all its glory.

The Sword of Lü Dongbin was a one-handed, double-edged long sword with a gold-plated hilt with a red gem embedded in it. The blade had runic Chinese writing along the blade; it was a majestic, almost mythical weapon. Eric couldn't help but take up the sword in his hands and admire the craftsmanship of the sword. Even the Ice gang seemed impressed by the ancient weapon.

"Whoa! That thing looks like its worth some serious dough!" Cobra exclaimed.

"Yeah, we outta' sell it once we're done here." Ice suggested.

"First things first, I must have the demon chi," Drago proclaimed, holding out his hands over the blade.

"AI YAH! Young dragon punk has gotten the sword! Jackie, I told you we should have gotten here faster!" Behind the posse a loud voice yelled. Drago, Ice, Cobra and Fist all turned around in frustration while Eric turned around in surprise. Behind them stood an elderly Chinese man, a much younger man, a young Chinese girl with black hair and a tall, obese Japanese man who resembled a sumo wrestler.

"Uncle! You forced us to stop and get you some more garlic!" the younger of the two men wailed. The older man smacked his nephew with his index and middle fingers and judging from the young man's reaction and the sound the smack caused it must have been quite painful.

"Excuses, excuses. Tohru, do you have the Chi-O-Matic ready?" The older man, apparently named "Uncle", asked the tall, Japanese man.

"It's here, Sensei, we just need to prepare the Chi Spell." The Japanese man, Tohru, replied.

Drago growled angrily, but Eric was confused by his leader's reaction. "Who are they?" the new dragon asked.

"It's those meddling Chans again, Eric! Every time we try to accomplish our goals they get in the way!" Drago replied angrily.

The girl then spoke up, "Hey look, Drago's got some new flunky with him, but he looks different from pizza face and his friends."

Eric frowned at the girl's remark, "I'm no mere henchman!" he replied confidently, flexing his wings and striking a battle pose.

"Jade, it's too dangerous! Stay back!" the younger of the two Chinese men said to the girl.

"Aww, Uncle Jackie, haven't I proved yet that I can take care of myself?" Jade asked. The posse of dragons did not wait and charged forward. The younger man, Jackie, and Tohru also charged forward. The combined strength of Strike Master Ice, MC Cobra and DJ Fist was enough to smash the five of them through the wall, the battle eventually led to the docks nearby. Jade, Uncle, Drago and Eric weren't far behind.

Jackie was a skilled martial artist and used martial arts to battle the dragons while Tohru used his massive size and strength to combat them. Uncle was familiar with spells, prayers and chants and used a combination of these to summon energy blasts to defend him. Drago and Eric found higher ground, away from the battle, so that Drago could absorb the demon chi from the sword. Uncle noticed that Drago and Eric had deviated themselves from the battle. "Jackie! Drago is preparing to absorb Shendu's chi! You must stop him while I prepare the proper Chi Spell!"

Jackie grabbed and threw DJ Fist. "I'm on it, Uncle!" Jackie then turned around and headed towards Drago, leaving Tohru to fight the Ice Gang.

Drago noticed Jackie approaching and motioned to Eric, "Stop him while I complete the ritual!" Eric nodded, handing the sword to Drago before gliding towards Jackie.

Jackie stopped in his tracks in front of Eric. Jackie was in awe of Drago's apprentice, never encountering a creature quite the same as him. Eric erect, confident, and said to Jackie, "I have no quarrel with you, but I cannot let you pass until our goal is complete."

"Well I can't let that happen either," Jackie said before sprinting head first towards Drago, but Eric blocked his advance. Jackie again tried to get past Eric, but the young dragon continued to hinder his advance. Soon the two of them began fighting using martial arts, Eric parried most of Jackie's moves and those that were not stopped did not seem to faze Eric too much. Jackie shook off the pain in his fist from punching Eric. "Who are you? WHAT are you?" Jackie asked.

"My name is Eric, and I am a true dragon!" Eric roared before hitting Jackie with his tail, sending him skidding backwards.

"AI YAH! Tohru! Jackie needs your help!" Uncle cried. Tohru, who had just finished beating up the Ice Gang, turned towards the battle. Eric was a little intimidated by the large man approaching him. Tohru, like a true sumo, pushed Eric back, and seemed to have the upper hand, but the smaller dragon did not give up, he held his ground and was able to halt Tohru's advance. Eric then sidestepped, using Tohru's own strength against him and causing him to trip.

"Tohru! Uncle Jackie!" Jade cried out, worried. She sprinted to where the battle against Eric was going on. That's when Ice recovered just enough of his strength and glanced up from where he lay.

"It's time to roast me some Chans!" Ice summoned the largest fireball he could muster and hurled it at Tohru and Jackie, of course being exhausted from the fight did not help his aim and he missed. Instead the fireball struck the ground near where Jade stood, causing a small explosion that was just enough to knock Jade off her feet and knock her into the water nearby.

"JADE!" Jackie cried out in fear. Eric turned just in time to see Jade fall. He glanced anxiously at Drago, who was busy absorbing the chi, and then at the Chan clan, who were too distracted by Jade. Eric then did something unexpected, he leapt into the water after her.

Eric dove into the water like a torpedo; his brown eyes scanned the murky gloom and soon spotted Jade. He grappled against the water's current and swam towards Jade, snatching her up with a single arm before heading back to the surface. Eric's spiky head broke the water's surface and he spotted a buoy nearby, which he grabbed onto to help him float while he carried Jade. Looking back at the dock, Eric noticed Jackie, Uncle and Tohru all waiting by the dock's edge, uncaring (or maybe even oblivious) of Drago's activity behind them. Eric swam up to the dock's edge and lifted Jade to her family. Fortunately, as it turned out, Jade was not injured, merely shocked from Ice's explosion and a little dazed from being knocked underwater. Jade coughed up some water that she had accidentally swallowed. They all gave Eric questioning looks. "Why did you help us?" Jackie asked.

Eric gave them a somber look before replying, "It just didn't seem right…"

"Hey! Eric!" Eric snapped back to attention and turned towards his leader, Drago, "We're done here, let's get moving!" He noticed that Drago had completed his task and has absorbed the entire amount of chi from the sword. The Ice Gang had regrouped with Drago and the four dragons leapt out of sight. Eric turned one last time at the Chan clan, who all still had puzzled expressions, before joining Drago.

The dragons regrouped in their hideout, the dump somewhere in San Francisco. The Ice Gang turned towards Eric with scornful glares while Drago had an equally disappointed expression. "Eric, I would just like to know, WHY did you save that little girl?"

"You traitor! You helped the enemy!" Ice shoved Eric's shoulder.

"Hey, it just didn't feel right to just let her die like that! She didn't need to die to complete our mission!" Eric retorted.

Drago scratched his scaly chin, "Well I suppose I can overlook this incident, we did succeed for once after all," the Ice Gang glanced at each other apprehensively, "and hey, it seemed that little distraction was just what I needed to complete the ritual without interruption," Drago smiled evilly, he formed an enormous fireball in the palm of his hand, much larger than the fireballs he usually summoned, and hurled it at a pile of garbage nearby, reducing them further into rubble.

"All right, now we're in business, y'all!" Cobra exclaimed in excitement after witnessing Drago's new destructive power. The Ice Gang gave each other high-fives in glee.

Drago spread out his arms, an expression of both serenity and victory plastered on his face. "Today is a momentous day; we have taken a huge step in our quest! Tomorrow I will unleash my wrath and take another stride forward!" The Ice Gang whooped and hollered in agreement, only Eric remained silent.

Eric motioned towards the now seemingly useless sword that Drago still clutched, "So, Drago, now that you no longer need that sword, may I keep it?"

Drago gave Eric a surprised and glanced at the hand holding the sword, "I had almost forgotten that I was still carrying this old thing, why do you want it?"

"Before I joined you I learned some swordsmanship skills, and with that I could do some serious damage," Eric replied.

Drago shrugged and tossed the sword to Eric, "Suit yourself."

Later that night Drago's posse camped out in a park, just to get away from the stink of the dump. Eric was just settling down he saw something out of the corner of his eye, it looked like an animal darting around in the bushes. Normally Eric would be fearful of what was in hiding but for some reason he felt compelled to follow. The animal led him to a more clear area of the woods before stopping, and that was when Eric finally got a good look at the animal. It was a gray wolf with shining blue eyes that seemed to pierce the soul. The wolf simply stood there watching the young dragon's movements and vice versa. Suddenly the wolf tensed up and leapt at Eric and for him everything turned white.

When Eric regained his senses he realized he was now in a foggy field, the place had an ethereal feeling to it, and in the background he could see a bright white castle. He heard panting behind him and he turned to see the wolf sitting there panting, this time it looked non-aggressive. The wolf then lifted its head and howled, and in the blink of an eye transformed into a new form. The wolf had transformed into what appeared to be a young man, perhaps only several years older than Eric, with pointed ears and dirty blonde hair. He wore a green tunic and chain mail, he wore brown, metal-tipped shoes. He wore a leather belt with various different items strapped to it and wore orange gauntlets, one of them bearing a contraption on his wrist. In his left hand he wielded a gleaming white and blue long sword and in his right was a silver shield with a red frame and a polished surface.

The man had a determined look on his face and held himself in a fighter's stance, "A sword wields no strength, unless the hand that holds it has courage!" The warrior cried in a young, but strong and confident voice.

Eric backed away two steps in awe of the new being that stood before him. "Who are you? You look very familiar to me."

The man let his stance become at ease and nodded in agreement, "I think I should be familiar to you, I know that you have gleaned the memories of some of my past lives."

"'Past lives?'"

"Indeed, I am, in a sense, the manifestation of the spirit of many heroes that have lived in the golden kingdom. It all started with the one called the 'Hero of Time,' who first defeated a great evil, he and his descendents dedicated their lives to righteousness and fighting evil. All of these warriors shared the same name and many other qualities, most of all swordsmanship," he stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground, suspending the sword erect in the soil and placed an armored hand on his chest, " I am the collective, concentrated will and spirit of all of their reincarnations, you can call me the 'Omni Link'."

Eric was dumbfounded, he was aware of the Warrior Hero(es) named Link, one of his sessions back at the center involved experiencing the memories of one of these them, though which reincarnation he experienced he could not recall. "Well what it is that you want with me?" Eric asked anxiously.

"While I usually only appear to my reincarnations, I have been called upon to find you. You have an important destiny ahead of you and I have been summoned to assist you, but you have strayed from the right path."

"What do you mean?" Eric stuttered.

"You have allied yourself with evil forces, but now is not the time for that. I cannot fully explain the events that are to transpire and our respective roles at this time, all I can say is that I am here to help you."

"So how do you plan on helping me?"

"Right now I must teach you the first step in the ways of the sword. There was a move that my teacher, or at least, one of my past lives' teacher, had taught me, it is the 'Ending Blow', I believe you are familiar with it." Eric nodded, in his session the Link he viewed did use the Ending Blow from time to time. "Now, we must practice; strike me down with your sword!" The spirit suddenly snatched up his sword and took on an aggressive posture. Eric was slightly shaken up by this display, but then realized he was holding the Sword of Lü Dongbin in his right hand. The dragon quickly found the courage to charge at the green-clad knight and attack, striking him several times with his sword, the attack was enough to catch Omni Link off balance and knocked him down. Eric gripped the sword tightly, a little nervous on how to proceed, "Fear not for my safety, for I am a spirit, attack!" the knight prompted, with this Eric steeled his nerves and leapt into the air, the point of the sword aimed straight at his chest and plunged the blade deep inside his chest.

As the adrenaline worked its way out of his system, Eric cautiously stepped backward, afraid of what he just did, but Omni Link chuckled in delight, "Impressive, you are indeed capable of learning the lost art." Omni Link pulled the sacred sword from his chest as he collected himself and handed it back to Eric. "Do not lag in your swordsmanship; otherwise your life may be forfeit." Both the knight and dragon bowed to each other in respect before sheathing their respective weapons.

"Before you go, there is something I must give you, think of it as a gift to help you take the first step," Omni Link said reaching behind him, under his should which was now strapped to his back. He pulled out what appeared to be a purple satchel with a silly monster's face etched into it and holding it in front of Eric.

"What's this?" he asked.

"This is the 'Spoil's Bag', it was an item another one of my incarnations wore, he used it to store the treasures he collected from defeating monsters, now I pass it on to you," Eric took the bag in his hand, as he touched it the bag transformed into a new shape, now no longer resembling the purple satchel it once was, it now looked more like a dark blue backpack, not unlike those used by hikers and students. "You quest will require you to collect 'Precious', items and relics of strange and great power, this bag possesses a magical property to store just about anything that is placed into it without getting full so in a sense it too is a Precious, use it to collect other Precious as you come across them." The Spoils Bag had recognized Eric's unique traits and had transformed itself to better suit his needs, he could comfortably wear it on his back without it interfering with his dorsal spikes or wings.

"Remember that an important destiny awaits you, Eric; beware of traveling down the wrong path, until we meet again…" With that said Eric's world turned white. Once again he came back to his senses and found himself back in the clearing he had found himself in earlier, this time their was no sign of Omni Link or his lupine counterpart. What had transpired amazed Eric, so many questions filled his mind, especially when the spirit told him of his allegedly important destiny. He returned to the campsite, he decided he would tell no one of what had happened and tried to go to sleep and ease his troubled mind.

_All right, so this is a rather shoddy attempt at writing a fan fic. This fan fic was partially inspired by a dream I had where I became one of Drago's half human/half dragon henchmen but at the same time I was a nice guy who didn't want to hurt Jackie Chan or any of the good guys, I only fought defensively to act as a distraction while Drago accomplished his goals._


	2. Chapter 2: When a Plan Falls Apart

_Welcome back to the next chapter of American Drago, I hope you enjoy it._

**When a Plan Falls Apart**

The next day Drago was celebrating his victory in obtaining the Fire Chi by turning downtown San Francisco into an inferno. With his own firepower augmented by his father's chi, Drago's power was immense, massive waves of fire gushed from his palms and mouth, scorching everything in their path. All the while the fiery teen laughed maniacally, watching as any living thing nearby fled in terror! The Ice Gang wasn't far behind, hurling fireballs like baseballs at anything lucky enough to escape their leader's blaze.

Eric flew high in the air observing everything that was going on. Silently he prayed for anything alive would have the common sense to flee. Although he was infused a bit with Drago's demonic chi and enjoyed wanton destruction every once in a while, Eric still retained a small bit of his goodness and secretly hoped for the safety for living things. Unfortunately his prayers were not answered; even as the civilians and wild animals fled the scene, a group of SWAT soldiers approached the scene. Eric tried to stay out of sight as he observed what was going on.

Several SWAT soldiers had posted themselves in places where they could snipe out Drago but the son of Shendu could easily smell his foes and blasted fire. Another wave of soldiers charged towards Drago with their weapons aimed straight at his scaly, spiky head. Drago grinned maliciously as he concentrated on his inner energies, summoning a ring a fire that issued from his own body that continued to expand and ripple, smashing the human warriors, melting their weapons and armor and searing their flesh.

Not soon after that Drago heard a series of loud noises coming from behind him, as if many large machines were approaching. The dragon was greeted by a small battalion of tanks! The army saw Drago as a major threat and decided to pull out some big guns to put an end to his threat. Drago's grin just continued to widen. Before the tanks had a chance to fire he leapt with lightning-quick speed, snapping off the top porthole of the nearest tank and snatching up its driver and hurling him away before diving into the tank himself. Drago laughed evilly as he turned the barrel of the tank's cannon in the opposite direction, towards the remaining tanks! He again focused on his chi and used the cannon as a medium to launch one more massive fiery blast that blazed over the tanks, burning the top half of them cleanly off revealing their vulnerable drivers. The attack was so powerful it blew off the top of the tank Drago inhabited! Having no further use for this feeble human weapon, Drago leapt out of the charred remains of the tank and landed with feline grace in the street. Nearby the Ice Gang had finished up beating up any remaining SWAT soldiers.

"This power is exhilarating!" Drago roared, opening his palm towards a large building and unleashed another blast of fire that completely demolished the top portion of the building, leaving only a stump of the bottom floors remaining. "I must have more! MORE POWER! If only the other powers were locked away in Section 13, although with my new power I bet we can take them on!"

Eric landed, rejoining the group. "You know, Drago, I was just thinking of something…"

Drago calmed down for a moment and turned towards Eric, "Hmm? And what's that?"

"You mentioned that your aunts and uncles had been released from their prison before and resealed again, right?" Eric inquired.

"That's correct."

"So, if the Chans had used the same technique the Eight Immortals used to seal them away in the past, couldn't there possibly be a chance that the items they had used had more Demon Chi rubbed off on them?"

Drago's eyes widened in surprise, and then with glee, "Then that would mean there are even MORE items with Demon Chi in them, making me even MORE powerful!"

"Hey, yeah! I say we go over to the Chans' and beat the items out of em'!" Ice butted into the conversation.

Drago smirked, "I agree, I think it's time we paid our friends a visit." Suddenly Eric was starting to regret his suggestion.

After some meditation Drago was able to locate the Demon Chi-infused items at Uncle's antique shop. The five dragons hid in an alley nearby. Ice contemplated out loud why the Chans were keeping all of the items stocked up at home? Drago surmised that the Chans didn't even realize the items they had used on the Demon Sorcerers retained their Chi. this would be a surprise attack.

Drago casually stepped forward and opened the door, "Honey, I'm home!" Uncle, Jackie, Tohru and Jade all turned in horror to see the dragons at their front door.

"How did you find us?" Tohru asked.

"Better question, why are you here?" Jackie asked.

"Duh! Drago and his flunkies are tired of us getting in his way so he's here to off us once and for all!" Jade said aloud.

"While the idea is deliciously appealing, I'm here for another reason, I want my Chi!" Drago growled hungrily.

"What? But we don't have any of the Immortal Items!" Jackie wailed.

"No, I figured out that there is another way to get the Chi. Didn't you twerps seal up my dad and my aunts and uncles behind the Eight Portals too? If you did what I think you did you should have what I'm looking for."

Uncle then just realized what Drago was hinting at, "AI YAH! Jackie! We used the same spells the Eight Immortals did to seal away the Demon Sorcerers! The items we used may have Demon Chi on them!"

"That's what we figure, so hand over the goods and we'll cut this house call short!" Cobra

"Hmm…in light of the situation, Uncle's answer is…no…Besides you won't even find the items, we've got them hidden someplace safe so there, HA CHA!"

"Let me guess, they're in some closet in here, right?"

"…AI YAH!"

"Uncle, you're such a pack rat…" Jackie moaned.

"Fine, if you won't hand over the Chi willingly, we're going to have to tear this place apart until we find it!" Drago snarled.

"We're razing the roof, ya'll!" Ice shouted.

"Heh heh, nice pun, Ice." Eric chuckled.

The Ice gang began by knocking over shelves of books and breaking antiques while Drago burned anything around him. "AI YAH! Stop! You're destroying my priceless books and antiques!" Jackie began fighting his way through Drago's posse.

Eric did not like seeing priceless items like ancient books and antiques go to waste so he attempted to put out the fires that threatened to consume them. While this was happening Tohru, Uncle and Jade approached Eric. "Okay, so what's the deal? You work for Drago but you saved me, one of his enemies, why?" Jade asked Eric.

"I told you, it just wasn't right, no one should suffer or die if they don't have to."

"Why do you serve Drago knowing that he does these atrocities?" Tohru asked Eric.

"Drago is…my friend…he gave me this power! I'm now a true dragon because of him…besides he would probably kill me if I refused." Eric said somberly.

"I can sense that this young dragon's chi is essentially good, but it has become tainted and corrupted by Drago's influence," Uncle explained, "but it's not too late for you, some people can be influenced by ignorance or fear, these people can be saved…" Eric looked away almost shamefully. "Well, whether or not this of important doesn't matter right now, Tohru, I expected Drago to come after us and after failing to get the Fire Demon Chi from the last time I started concocting a reverse Chi Spell to at least take away Drago's excess fire chi, I have everything set up so if you'll help me."

Tohru retrieved the Chi-O-Matic while Uncle prepared the correct Chi Spell. "No, you mustn't do that!" Eric attempted to stop them but Uncle quickly chanted another Chi Spell, this one caused magical ropes to entangle Eric's body, restricting him. Eric watched in shame as the Chi-O-Matic vacuumed up Drago's extra fire chi, but before the Chi-O-Matic began to vibrate, indicating it was completely filled up and could not take any more. Drago growled in frustration, "Fine, take back my dad's chi, I don't need his power to finish you off, and then I'll get the rest of the Demon Chi!" Drago readied himself with another fireball when everyone heard sirens outside.

That was when a tall, muscular bald man wearing a black leather jacket and several similarly dressed soldiers barged into the building. "Freeze, Drago, you won't get away this time!" the bald man held a pistol aimed at Drago.

"Captain Black! I'm sure glad you and your Section 13 agents were able to get here in time!" Jackie said happily.

"This gives us a good opportunity to test our new weapon, bring em' in boys!" That's when some of the soldiers came in with advanced bazooka-like weapons, all of which were aimed at Drago. Waves of freezing cold water charged with electricity were fired from the bazookas. Drago cried out in agony as the combination of water and electricity drained his strength and caused him to drop the Dragon Talisman.

"Drago!" Seeing Drago in pain gave Eric enough strength to break free from his bondage. He swiftly moved from soldier to soldier, effectively destroying the weapons with his sword and knocking the agents unconscious. He then glided to Drago and lifted him onto his shoulders before fleeing the scene with the Ice Gang not far behind.

The five of them returned to the dump that was their hideout. They all felt the disappointment of losing both the Fire Chi and the Dragon Talisman. The Ice Gang wrapped Drago in old rags they had found around the dump and built a fire to help warm their fiery leader. "Eric…" Drago groaned painfully, beckoning his newest recruit closer, the son of Shendu then placed a claw on his shoulder, "…Thank you…" he whispered before drifting into a healing slumber, Eric nodded in affirmation, happy that his leader was thankful.

That night Eric saw the gray wolf hiding in the shadows, Eric heard a familiar voice in his head, "Come, follow me, and bring that shield there with you," the wolf motioned towards the sleeping form of Strike Master Ice before dashing away. In Ice's clutches he held a round shield, it looked like an artifact from the Chans' shop, it looked to be the same shield that the Rooster Talisman had originally been embedded in, and Ice must have stolen it during his brief visit. Eric carefully crept towards his fellow dragon hybrids, seeing them fast asleep, he then carefully slid the shield from under Ice's clutches and claimed it for himself, and then proceeded to follow the wolf. The wolf led Eric to a clearing in the dump and suddenly leapt at Eric and his vision turned white, coming back to the white, misty field. The gray wolf sat peacefully, before howling and transforming into Omni Link. "So, we meet again," the green-clad knight proclaimed, "I saw fit that it was time to teach you something new, young warrior…"

"Why do you keep coming to me?" Eric asked fearfully, "What would you possibly want from me?"

Link closed his eyes and exhaled slowly and for a few moments there was silence, then almost hesitatingly he opened his eyes and spoke, "Normally, I would only reveal myself to one of my incarnations, or to a member of the Royal Family of Hyrule, but I have been ordered by powers on high to come before you."

Eric was even more dumbfounded than before, "Powers on high? What do you mean?"

Link shook his head, "In due time, everything will be revealed to you, that is all I can say. Right now I must assess your abilities. Before we begin I would like to see if you have mastered the last technique I taught you earlier, the _finishing blow_, show it to me!" Link then drew his sword and poised for attack. Eric sighed, but obeyed the spirit's command, he drew his sword and rushed forward, attacking Omni Link with all his strength, pummeling the spirit knight and felling him. Seeing his opportunity, Eric raised his sword and leapt, once again embedding the blade into Omni Link's chest. Being a spirit Link felt no pain from the attack. Eric pulled the sword from Link's chest and helped him to his feet. "Good, you've proven that you have learned this skill, you are ready to learn the next, the _Shield Attack_, learn it well, for it will be helpful for later."

Link then began to teach Eric the next skill. "There was a reason I asked you to retrieve that shield from your heathen acquaintances, it's a good thing you obeyed, because obviously a shield is required for the _Shield Attack_. Anyway, when it comes to battle, no matter how well-tempered a blade is, if your foe is clad in armor and carries a shield, the blade will do it no harm. When you are faced with such a foe, thrust **your** shield against the defenses of your enemy," Link then demonstrated by thrusting his shield forward, "this should temporarily stun your enemies, now, practice this move on me. You have learned much, so I am sure you will know the moment when you can use a Shield Attack!" The two then crossed their swords together in a sign of respect before beginning. Eric did exactly as his sensei had ordered and thrust his shield against Omni Link, causing him to stumble. Although dazed, Link smiled, "Excellent! Open a hole in your enemy's defenses and use your sword to strike without hesitation!" Eric nodded.

"Now, let me show you another convenient use for the Shield Attack." Omni Link then stepped back several feet away from Eric. "The Shield Attack I have just taught you can also be used to repel an enemy's projectile attacks. Would you practice? Then repel my magical attack with your Shield Attack!" Suddenly Omni Link summoned a sphere of energy from the tip of his sword and flung it at Eric. The young dragon panicked and hid behind this shield, causing him to skid back a few inches. "You must time it just as my spell hits your shield to reflect it back at me!" Link shouted from where he stood several yards away, "You must also focus, mentally lock onto your target! This is a fundamental of combat" Eric nervously nodded and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Let's try again!" Link again formed the magical sphere from the tip of his sword and flung it at Eric. This time the young dragon was focused and was able to thrust his shield forward just in time to deflect the magical sphere back at Omni Link. The knight staggered a few paces before regaining his composure and smiled once again. "Perfect! When your enemies assail you with projectiles, this is how you will defeat them with ease!" Eric smiled as well, almost in embarrassment but also with some pride. "Done! You have learned the second of my hidden skills, the _Shield Attack_! But I have five more secrets to teach you…in time. Do not forget your discipline with the blade before we meet again!" And just as before, the white, misty field faded and Eric found himself back where he was before in the dump. Fortunately none of Drago's posse had awoken so no one knew Eric had left. He lay down in his usual spot and drifted quietly to sleep, his mind processing…

Meanwhile, somewhere in New York City

"Are you sure it is here, Professor?"

"Indeed, I am positive it is here, Hunts Master."

Scum Labs was a corrupt multinational corporation that exploited the use of mutagenic materials, regardless of who was affected. The company is infamous for the creation of over forty Kaiju, the generic word for giant monsters who possessed immense size and strength.

In New York City was situated one of Scum Labs' many headquarters and it was here that a burglary was in the process. "Excellent, it was fortunate that Scum Labs was able to 'obtain' the cells we're looking for from the Global Defense Force, with it we can use their power to destroy all magical creatures." New York's Scum Labs branch was invaded by what appeared to be ninja warriors. They wore black and scarlet form-fitting suits and carried bladed staffs. The higher ranking of this group wore the skulls of slain dragons on their heads to distinguish and boast their status as dragon-slayers. They were the Hunts Clan.

"According to the schematics I've downloaded, the main laboratory we are searching for is on this floor, my lord," announced the Hunts Clan professor in a soft, British accent. He was of a broad, muscular build and as a symbol of his status his head was clad with the scarred, broken skull of a dragon and on his left eye he wore a monocle. The Hunts Clan was sophisticated in developing and using technology, including cybernetics. This was evident in the professor as he no longer possessed an organic right arm, replaced with a much larger, cybernetic claw.

The Hunters stealthily made their through the halls of the building. They at last came upon a set of white double doors. "It is here, Hunts Master," the professor whispered. A pair of the younger warriors opened the door, allowing their superiors to enter. The inside of the laboratory would seem clichéd, with various computer monitors and other advanced machinery set up inside. Along the back wall was over forty enormous cryogenic tubes, but the contents of which were obscured by condensation. This was of no importance to the Hunts Clan; their true objective was nearby. A metallic cooler was placed on a table nearby. The cooler was sealed with a sophisticated lock.

"Yo, Hunts man, let 88 and me take care of this one." Two of the younger recruits made their way to the canister. One was a stout, chubby teenager with a badge depicting a large number #88 on the left shoulder. The other was a taller, thinner boy with a #89 badge on his left shoulder. The two boys attempted to pick the lock themselves but instead fumbled stupidly. One of the older recruits, a young woman with her blonde hair set in a long braid, rolled her eyes in frustration and used her staff to slice through the lock. The two younger boys glanced back at their superiors sheepishly, "We were just about to get it."

That was when the leader of the Hunts Clan warriors stepped forward and took the case into his large, strong hands. To his enemies he was known as the Huntsman, but to his followers he was the Hunts Master. He was a tall man of similar muscular build to the professor and his red eyes burned with evil will. The Huntsman opened the case. Inside was a cylindrical canister filled with a viscous substance. "It's fortunate that the GDF had encased them in a radiation reinforced container, otherwise we would risk poisoning," the Hunts Man said in his deep, gruff voice, "But we cannot risk the chance of a leak, Prof. Mythosbane, bring me the radiation-proof container. The monocle-wearing professor rushed to his master's side with another briefcase.

Just as the Huntsman took the jar from the case, the building's alarms blared, signaling the security of the Hunts Clan's presence. Right on cue, several security guards arrived, unfortunately Scum Labs was an incompetent organization and their employees were equally as such. The Huntsman gave the guards a fleeting glance before turning to his subordinates, "#88, #89, Hunts Girl, take care of this little annoyance."

"Yes, Master, Hi-yah!" The blonde-braided girl leapt at the security guards. With one swipe of her staff, Hunts Girl dispatched three of the security guards and quickly followed by roundhouse kicking two more. The two Hunts boys, #88 and #89 followed, trying to intimidate the security guards with poorly imitated marital arts moves and sounds.

Suddenly one of the security guards pulled out a bazooka and aimed it straight at the Huntsman. "Hunts Master, look out!" The professor cried out. Two of the lower-ranking warriors closest to the Huntsman shoved their leader out of the way just in time when the security guard fired his bazooka. This caused the two Hunters to be propelled to the back of the room and against one of the enormous cryogenic tubes.

Prof. Mythosbane angrily turned towards the security guards and pointed his mechanical arm at them, which then morphed into the barrel of a cannon and fired a bullet of energy and blasting the security guards with the same ferocity as the bazooka. The professor hurried to the injured hunters, "Are you well, lads?" the professor asked.

The two younger warriors rubbed their sore heads and backs. "Yes, sensei, we're all right," they groaned in reply.

The professor smiled and nodded, "I'm relieved to here you say that." He extended both arms to help up his fellow warriors. Just as he was helping them to their feet he noticed the smudge on the cryogenic tube where the Hunts boys had slammed against them from the blast and had removed a small bit of condensation, giving a small glimpse of what was inside. The object gained the intrigue of Mythosbane, with his organic hand he wiped away a little more of the condensation to see what was inside. What he saw horrified him, an enormous hoofed foot. This further attracted his curiosity, so he turned towards one of the Hunts boys, "Let me see your staff for a moment, son," he said and the warrior he addressed happily obliged. He faced the blade of the staff and set it so that the water-spraying gun was set and doused the rest of the tank where he could not reach. The water removed the condensation at the top of the tank, better revealing what lay inside.

An enormous bipedal animal stood inside, it had gray white fur growing all over its body, a brown face and a pair of curved, goat-like horns jutting from the sides of its head and as stated before it had hoofed feet. The professor next noticed a plaque at the base of the tank. It was mostly a collection of statistics and numbers, but one word stuck out from all the rest: "Ramsey the Ram." The curious professor moved to two other tanks and repeated the procedure he did on Ramsey's tank. Again the water revealed two more giant beasts. One was humanoid in appearance but its body was completely composed to earthworms, the plaque underneath read the name "Squirmy the Worms." The other held another giant creature. This one was also bipedal but its back was hunched over, it had blue fur all over its body except for its back, which had an orange tinge and covered in spines, the creature had a long snout. The plaque underneath the cryogenic tank read "Icky the Echidna."

"I knew it, so this is where Scum Labs was containing its Kaiju!" Professor Mythosbane exclaimed. Just then many more Scum Labs security guards filed into the room. The Hunts Clan aimed their staffs at their enemies and fired lasers from the blades of their weapons. The professor ran to the Huntsman's side that he had almost forgotten. "Are you well, my lord?" asked the professor.

"Yes, professor, I'm fine, we have gotten what we've come for, and we don't need to concern ourselves with these dogs!"

"True, master, but even a pack of dogs can be dangerous; they are blocking our escape route and we are outnumbered!"

The Huntsman then turned to the cryogenic tanks and an idea formed in his violent mind. He quickly rushed over to the tanks and used his staff to smash through one of them. Klaxons throughout the room blared and the lights flickered from the damage. The life in the cryogenic tank began to stir. In a loud voice the Huntsman shouted over the din, "Hunts Clan, I command you, damage these tanks!" Obeying their master's command, the Hunters abandoned their battle with the guards and repeated his actions, smashing several of the tanks either from physical force or from firing lasers from their staffs.

Just a few feet above the Huntsman's head a large purple fist smashed through the glass from inside the tube he was standing at. He leapt out of the way just in time to see another enormous beast. Just before he escaped the Huntsman read the plaque at the bottom of the tank, it read: "Philbert the Ungulate." The glass shattered as the rest of the beast emerged, like most of the other monsters it two was bipedal, it had a purple hide and like Ramsey it had a pair of horns jutting from the sides of its head and hoofed feet.

Philbert let out a high-pitched screech and stomped around the room, smashing things with his large fists and feet. The Scum Labs security guards averted their attention from the Hunts Clan to Philbert, firing their array of pistols and bazookas at the giant deer-like beast. The bullets and rockets did little to affect the giant ungulate, Philbert turned around and looked down at the much smaller humans and giggled. He swiftly snatched up one of the security guards and popped them in his mouth and devoured the poor guard. After swallowing the ungulate turned to the other guards and stomped towards them, still hungry.

All around them, more of the tanks shattered, revealing their monstrous charges. #88 and #89 screamed pitifully in fear of the giant monsters. "Hunts Clan, move out!" The Huntsman yelled. The Hunts Clan warriors quickly retreated from the room, leaving behind the battle between the Scum Labs employees and the monsters.

Prof. Mythosbane was especially pleased to leave. "It serves them right for their arrogance and greed, now they will be punished by the, quite literal, monsters they've created!"

"Yes, those idiotic fools did not know what power they attempted to control and exploit, that power belongs only to those who truly comprehend and are able to wield it efficiently," the Huntsman replied, "tonight we've obtained an incredibly rare and valuable resource, one that could greatly aid us in our goal of the extermination of all magical and supernatural creatures and the domination of the earth!"

Several hours later

The battle between Scum Labs and its monsters had finally ended, poorly one might add. Millions of dollars worth of collateral damage was caused and casualties had climbed into the hundreds. These thoughts weighed heavily on the ill-fortuned manager that was to give his report to the CEO. He nervously scurried through the halls of the building like a mouse until finally finding and plowing through the double doors into the conference room where the CEO awaited him.

"What's the situation?" the CEO asked his employee who nervously handed him the report. The CEO shook his head in anguish after reading the statistics. "Were you able to contain the damage at least?"

"We managed to re-subdue some of the test subjects, but unfortunately some of them managed to escape…"

"WHAT?"

"It's in the report sir…"

The CEO flipped through the pages until he found a list, the names of the "Test Subjects" that had escaped their grasp: "Let's see…Rocky the Granite, Amanda the Armadillo, Nick the Demon, Lizzie the Dinosaur…"

The Next Morning in San Francisco

It seemed like a lazy morning for Drago's posse. The Ice Gang was busy fooling around, skateboarding and rollerblading around the junkyard like it was a skate park. Drago sat cross-legged on the hood of a broken car, meditating, and Eric was resting nearby. Suddenly Drago's eyes snapped open and he growled.

The growl was loud enough for the Ice Gang and Eric to hear and they all strolled up to their leader. "Yo, what's the problem, D-man?" Ice asked.

Drago sighed and gritted his teeth; a seething anger welled underneath his scaly surface. "Boys, while I was meditating I received a vision, not of any Demon Chi, but of something that really disturbs me."

"Boy, it must have been really awful to upset the boss," Cobra said sarcastically. Drago heard his remark and snarled, dousing Cobra in a light fire, not enough to seriously injure but enough to get his point around. "Sorry…" Cobra said nervously.

"Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I received a vision. Apparently there's a group of dragon-hating jerks calling themselves the Hunts Clan lurking in New York City."

"I can understand why that would upset you, Drago, but why does this concern you? They are all the way across the continent?" Eric asked.

"In my vision I realized that just recently they've come into the possession of an enormous source of power, with something like that in their hands it can't be good, and I want that power for myself!" Drago announced.

"Does this mean what I think it is?" Ice asked.

"Yup, we're heading to New York City!"

The Ice Gang was definitely excited by this new development. "All right! Road trip!" Cobra shouted excitedly.

"Yeah, to the city that never sleeps! It's time to party!" Ice shouted in reply. Even Eric was a little excited to be going to New York. He wondered what he would see and experience there.


	3. Ch 3: American Dragon Saga Part 1

_This is the moment for all the ADJL and JCA fans have all been waiting for, the first of the true crossover saga. Enjoy!_

_**American Dragon Saga Part 1: Here there be Dragons!**_

"New York City?"

"Yes, we've received reports that Drago and his gang are headed there…"

Captain Black had suddenly made a surprise visit to the Chan Clan at Uncle's antique shop in San Francisco.

"But why would Drago be headed there?" Jackie asked.

"The Chi-O-Matic has not detected any Demon Chi there, so Drago would not be going to New York to retrieve more Chi." Uncle announced.

"Who cares? It doesn't matter where he's going, if Drago is going to New York he's obviously up to something!" Jade piped in.

Jackie nodded his head, "I agree, no matter what Drago does it's never anything good, we should pursue him just to make sure."

That's when Capt. Black interrupted, "You may need some back up for this, Jackie. I've been getting very peculiar reports from New York, apparently there is increased criminal activity and so-called supernatural phenomenon going on across the country, and this would be a good opportunity to investigate the situation."

"Good idea, if Drago isn't the only one involved in these affairs we'll need all the help we can get."

"Yay! Road trip! I'll go pack my stuff!" Jade smiled happily, but just as she was about to rush up to her room Jackie grabbed her by the back of her shirt's collar.

"Jade! Drago and his gang are already dangerous enough as it is, and according to Captain Black we might have to deal with more criminals and even magical forces, it's just too dangerous for you to come with us!" Jackie tried to dissuade his niece.

"But Jackie, you yourself said that you're going to need all the help you can get. I'm an important part of the J-Team! Don't leave me out in the dugout!"

"I'm sorry, Jade, but the risk is too great, you must stay here where it's safe." Jade frowned and sulked back to her room.

Tohru followed her up, "I will try to talk some sense to her and calm her down."

A few moments after Tohru disappeared up the stairs; Capt. Black glanced at Jackie, "You know nothing you say is going to discourage her, right?"

Jackie sighed, "I know, but I feel like I have to say it."

Meanwhile, across the country in New York City, another meeting was held by a different party. Just as Captain Black said, there was supernatural activity going on in the City that Never Sleeps. The world is a place where such activity breeds and magical and mythological creatures secretly dwell among human beings almost entirely undetected. This was thanks to a benevolent group of dragons, the World Dragon Council, who monitors such activities. Unfortunately not everything is under control and that which they supervise sometimes slips through their fingers of influence. There were those who would exploit the magical and supernatural for their own evil ends, including the notorious Hunts Clan, one of the Dragon Council's greatest enemies.

To help better ensure the protection of the world the Dragon Council assigns agents to nearly every country in the world. In New York lived some of the Dragon Council's agents, the Long Family, a family of dragons that could assume human form and identity to blend in with the populace. The protégé of this family was a 14-year old boy named Jake Long, who could transform into a dragon. His job was to protect the magical world existing within America and to prevent humanity from discovering it, thus he was known as the American Dragon. Jake's grandfather, Lao Shi, was also an important member of the Dragon Council and was Jake's personal teacher in the ways of the dragon. Lao Shi, being an immigrant from China, could transform into a blue Lung (Chinese Dragon).

They were not alone either, Jake's little sister Haley was also a guardian dragon and acted as back up and substitute whenever Jake was unable to fulfill all of his duties, as well as Haley's teacher, Sun Park, a Korean Dragon. There was also the Long Family's animal guardian, Fu Dog, a 600-year old sharpei with the ability of speech. Jake was also often accompanied by his non-magical human friends Trixie and Spud.

_Several Hours Prior_

"JAKE! HURRY UP AND DEFEAT THAT MINOTAUR!" Lao Shi cried out impatiently. On Main Street the enormous bull, Rojo, was lumbering his way through, smashing buildings and vehicles and attempting to devour pedestrians.

Jake glided through the air, having transformed into his dragon form moments ago. Jake was a magnificent blend of Chinese and Western dragons, his body was long and slender, like that of his Chinese heritage, but he possessed the strong scales, claws, wings and fiery breath of western dragons. Jake utilized the attributes of both in his duties and would do so again today.

Jake zipped in front of Rojo's face as the behemoth bull attempted to climb a building in search of food, "Yo, we don't like bullheadedness here in the NYC, so why don't you take your sorry tail someplace else?" Jake taunted haughtily. One of Jake's faults was that he was almost always overconfident and cocky, but being a dragon this was to be expected. Still, his haughtiness also got Jake into a great deal of trouble.

Rojo snorted and swatted away Jake with one of his large hands as if he were an annoying fly. Jake spun through the air and crashed through the windows of an office building. His dragon scales protected him from being scratched up by the broken glass, but the impact did leave him a little stunned. Jake shook his head to clear his thoughts and growled, "Okay, you just earned yourself a trip to the butcher, curd breath!" Jake flew towards Rojo, peppering him with fire balls. The bull mooed in pain, attempting to again knock away the agile dragon. Jake bathed Rojo's face in a wave of fire, temporarily blinding him, next he aimed two enormous fireballs at the bovine's hands. The pain was too much for him to handle and Rojo relinquished his grip on the building. The bull roared in pain as he fell, colliding with the earth with earth-shattering force.

"Ha ha, now who's the big man on campus? Now it's time to roast up some prime rib!" Jake gloated, hovering in the air. He inhaled as deeply as he could to produce the largest fireball he could.

"Jake, wait stop!" Suddenly something collided with Jake, causing him to expel the contents of his lungs into the air in a massive burst. Jake and whatever had collided with him landed in the streets below. Jake again shook himself from his daze to see what tackled him.

On his chest kneeled a teenage girl around the same age as Jake, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. "Rose, what was that all about?" Jake groaned painfully.

Rose was another companion of the Long Family. Rose and Jake had been dating for over a year and were very close. Ironically, Rose was also a top agent of the Hunts Clan, known as the Hunts Girl. At first her allegiance to the Hunts Clan was her top priority and she and Jake often clashed, unbeknownst of each others identities. When they finally realized the other's identity Rose was filled with regret and repented, acting as a spy for the Long Family by feeding them information on the Hunts Clan's activities.

"Jake, it's not safe here, the military is on its way here and we can't let them see you like this!" Rose warned. Jake's eyes widened in shock, he then leapt into the air to confirm Rose's warning. Just as she said, Jake spotted an army of military personnel approaching the area. "You're right, Rose, it looks like we've got company, let's split!"

_Present Time_

Jake and his friends and allies all met up at Lao Shi's electronics store, a place where they commonly met up to discuss things and to simply hang out.

"Jake, I was studying the giant bull you were fighting earlier and I discovered that it was a 'Kaiju'." Lao Shi announced.

"A Kai-what now?" Jake asked in confusion.

"Kid, do you ever listen to our explanations? Anyway as gramps was saying you were fighting a Kaiju earlier." Fu Dog said impatiently.

"A Kaiju is an unusual life form that has a unique genetic structure than any other creature." Lao Shi proceeded to explain.

"Yeah, and they're usually humongous in size. Remember King Kong? He was the first Kaiju ever discovered, but the truth is thousands of Kaiju have existed throughout the world." Fu Dog replied.

"What Lao Shi and Fu Dog say are true, but that's not the important thing I wanted to discuss with you." Rose interrupted.

"I figured I wasn't here for a lesson in biology, so what's up, Rose?" Jake asked.

"The Hunts Clan is up to something sinister," Rose said cryptically.

"They're ALWAYS up to something sinister, what else is new?" Trixie asked.

"This time it's different, our latest mission had nothing to do with the Crystal Skulls." Rose explained. This simple statement piqued everyone's attention. "Last night the Huntsman had us on a secret mission, we raided Scum Labs' New York branch and obtain a top secret item."

Lao Shi and Fu Dog both had expressions of disdain on their faces. "Scum Labs, those idiots use toxic waste to exploit people and the supernatural for monetary gain… Those greedy fools!" Lao Shi's face was bright red with anger, everyone in the room thought smoke would start coming out of his ears.

"So what's this thing that they've burgled, huh?" Spud asked.

"Spud, there is no such word as 'burgled'!" Trixie replied.

"Yeah there is! If there wasn't then the author's spell check would have caught it!" Spud retorted.

"Spud, what are you talking about?" Trixie asked (LOL, a fourth wall-breaking joke)

"Anyway," Rose interrupted, "I don't know what exactly the Huntsman is planning because the project is top secret. Us lower-ranking Hunts Warriors haven't been informed enough about the project. From what I can gather from last night's mission is this: the item we obtained was a canister of sorts and the Huntsman was worried about a radiation leak, also Prof. Mythosbane is highly interested in the project as well."

"Hey, isn't he that cranky professor we had when we spied on the Hunts Clan Academy?" Spud asked.

"Don't be fooled, even though he teaches basic Dragon-Slaying Courses, Mythosbane is a highly respected member of the Elders of our Clan, he is a very dangerous sort."

"Rose, whatever it may be, the item the Huntsman has obtained is potentially dangerous if he and his Council are interested in it, and the fact that the threat of a radiation leak increases that danger, please learn everything you can about what we are dealing with," Lao Shi said. The wise, old Lung tried to maintain as calm composure as he could, but his voice was still spiked with anxiety. Rose nodded in reply; she too felt the same anxiety as the old dragon. "As for you, Jake, prepare yourself for anything, I sense something big is about to happen…

_Meanwhile, several miles off the coast of Manhattan_

"All right, boys, we're here!" Several miles a large black van had parked on the side of the road. Drago's Posse had taken a road trip across the country and was now nearing their intended destination, New York City. All five of them climbed out of the van, all of them a little drained from their trip but were quickly awakening to the cool, fresh air of the harbor. Ice rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while Fist yawned and Cobra and Eric stretched their cramped muscles. Only Drago seemed to be unfazed and vibrant, his determination ever present. "Today's a new day, boys, I can feel it."

"Yo, I wouldn't mind going back to my old job as a pizza-delivery boy if it meant I could work here, I hear that New York's Chicago-style pizza is the best in the world!" Ice commented.

"What I'd like to do is get to know the lovely actresses on Broadway!" Cobra butted in, giving his friends high-fives.

"I wish I could see the shows on Broadway," Eric added, "but first let's find out what the plan is."

"He's right, fellas, we're going to find those Dragon-Slayers and put them out of commission," Drago announced, "and then maybe take their secret weapon for ourselves."

"Look out, NYC; the posse is in da house!" Ice shouted.

Suddenly the ground started shaking around them. "What the heck? I thought we left behind all the earthquakes in San Fran!" Cobra stuttered, trying to stay on his feet. Nearby an enormous object burst from the ground, it was a giant armadillo! It had a large, round body covered in gray armor-like skin, typical of an armadillo.

Being interested in Kaiju and having researched them Eric was the first to recognize the beast. "A Scum Labs monster? That's Amanda the Armadillo!" Eric froze with realization after the name rolled off his lips. Amanda…how he HATED that name! It was the same name of the one that he once loved and broke his heart. Abruptly memories of his past inundated his mind, memories of the wonderful times they shared, followed swiftly of the memories of heartache and torment he endured after the end. Tears began welling in Eric's bright eyes and the emotional scars on his heart were reopened and bleeding once more. "Amanda…how could you leave me? How could you let love die?" He whispered to no one in particular.

The armadillo turned her head towards Drago's posse and snarled, her enormous stomach grumbled with hunger and the five much smaller dragons looked like they would make an appetizing snack. "Looks like we've attracted the welcoming committee, let's heat things up!" Drago snarled. The son of Shendu and his followers charged at Amanda, pelting her with fireballs. But Amanda's armored body was resilient and the hailstorm of flames felt like an April drizzle to the armadillo mutant.

MC Cobra, being the fastest in his group, was the first to reach Amanda and leapt into the air and delivered an aerial kick to the mutant, but once again her armored body protected her, for Cobra it felt like kicking a brick wall and the dragon hybrid fell to the ground, comically grabbing his injured foot and hopping around on one leg. DJ Fist was the next to try to attack, he too assaulted the Scum Labs mutant, this time with a punch, but the attack had little more effect than Cobra's, Fist wordlessly expressed his pain.

Drago roared in frustration and started hurling random objects at Amanda. "How do we beat this thing?"

"How could you not give love a fighting chance?" Startled, Drago and his minions turned towards Eric, "How could you do this to me, Amanda? Why Don't You Love Me? HOW COULD YOU LET LOVE DIE!" Eric's emotions were spiraling out of control. Anger, hate, frustration, confusion, sadness, disappointment, all of his pent up negative feelings raged in his heart and mind. The turmoil he was experiencing reflected in his appearance. Eric's gritting fangs grew larger, his dragon snout elongated and a blade-like horn grew from it. His hands grew larger and his muscles thickened and hardened while his skin tone darkened and his eyes glowed with a fiery aura! It was as if Eric was transforming into a draconic version of the Incredible Hulk!

The roar that emanated from Eric's lungs was so monstrous, so demonic in nature it was as if the Devil himself had entered him. The vengeful dragon sprang forward on his thick, muscular legs and propelled towards Amanda like a rocket. Eric drew back his right arm and slammed the armadillo with his enormous fist, the force of the impact knocked her off her feet and onto her back. Eric landed on Amanda's chest and continued pounding the armadillo in her face. Even though the dragon was pummeling Amanda the Armadillo of Scum Labs, all he saw was his former love, the rage blinding his crimson vision and rationality from the truth.

Amanda screeched in pain and fear and desperately swiped at Eric, knocking the dark beast off her chest, but this did little to deter him. Eric again jumped into the air and delivered a series of aerial kicks knocking her backwards again. Using the momentum from Eric's blows Amanda rolled into a ball to protect herself. Eric let out a demonic snarl and sprinted towards the curled up creature, grabbing her just barely exposed tail. He then began spinning the armadillo around and around like a ball and chain until he finally released and sent Amanda hurtling over the horizon.

Eric roared in triumph, pounding and stomping his fists and feet like a wild animal. Strike Master Ice, DJ Fist and MC Cobra all clapped in amazement at Eric's awesome powers. "Yo, E, dude! Way to go beating the snot out of that giant rat, there!" Eric turned to the Ice Gang and growled. The gang's awe was quickly replaced with fear. The dark dragon opened his great maw and exhaled a massive burst of fire, sending them flying through the air and crashed into the side of a billboard.

He then turned toward Drago, the fiery teen also clapped in amazement. This time Eric did not attack, he had spent all of his energy fighting Amanda and as a result Eric started returning to his original form, his features shrunk back to their original proportions and his lighter complexion came back. "I am proud of you, Eric," Drago smiled like a proud mentor, "you're finally embracing the true darkness within you, you are truly becoming a worthy servant of my empire!"

"I…I don't know what came over me…" Eric stuttered as reality began piecing itself back together again and realization sank in.

"Do not shun the darkness, Eric; embrace it, for it will give you strength!"

"Yo, uhh…D-man!" Ice interrupted, "my boys and I have done some hard time before and if there's one thing that we know about 'the man' is that he shows up not long after something big like this goes down!"

"You're right, a giant armadillo fighting a group of dragons is bound to attract attention, besides we have a job to do, let's get moving!"

About an hour or so later the police were at the scene, among them agents of Section 13. "So, what do you think, Jackie? It looks like Drago and his goons have already been here," Captain Black surmised.

"It sure does, Captain Black," Jackie replied, "Scum Labs was glad to get Amanda back into their custody, but according to your scouts there were six sets of dragon footprints, we can already guess that the first five belong to Drago, Strike Master Ice and his friends and the new one, Eric, but the last set is unknown to us, could Drago have enlisted even more help?"

"I don't know, Jackie, it's a good thing that El Toro's flight from Mexico will be here by tonight because we're going to need all the help we can get with this investigation," Cpt. Black stated, "in any case, it would appear that Drago is now somewhere in New York, normally I'd order an evacuation but panic is the last thing we need, especially with the so-called criminals I've been hearing about, we'll have to proceed as soon as we can."

Some time later, as the police were clearing the crime scene, a serpentine shape slipped out of hiding in the shadows nearby and began investigating the scene. "Hmm…Gramps was right, there was a bit of a tussle here," Jake Long whispered to himself, observing the disturbances in the area, and then something from the corner of his eye caught his attention, "hey, what's this?" Jake discovered Drago and his group's footprints, "Dragon footprints? I didn't know we'd be getting visitors, I better tell Gramps about this."

_A half-hour later_

"Dragon footprints? But the Council never alerted me that they were sending someone over here," Lao Shi was just as confused as his grandson.

"Figures the Council would be late with a memo, a goo goo," Fu Dog joked.

Suddenly Jake received a call on his cell phone. "Talk to me," Jake answered.

"Jake, it's Rose, I have an update on the situation with the Huntsman's plans," Rose whispered on the other side of the receiver, "he's sending some agents to begin looting some hardware stores on Wall Street tonight, you better make sure to intercept them."

"Got it Rose, I'll be there."

_Later that night_

"So are you sure this is the right way, D-man?" Ice asked.

"I'm positive, I can sense the Chi of the Dragon-Slayers here on what you humans call Wall Street, it's time we make our move," Drago answered.

"All right, I'm ready to pound a fool or two," Cobra exclaimed while cracking his knuckles.

_In a hardware store down the street_

"All right, lads, the Hunts Master requires as much hardware we can acquire, so take as anything that can prove useful," Prof. Mythosbane stated. The Prof, along with Hunts Boys #88 and #89 and several older Hunts Clan agents were looting the store for spare parts.

"I knew you Dragon-Slayers were scum, but to think that you were also just common thieves just disgusts me!" Drago announced, the posse had arrived and were standing in the doorway of the store.

"D…D…DRAGONS!" #89 stuttered in terror.

"MAMA! MAMA! HELP ME! WHERE'S MY BLANKIE?" #88 also began to comically panic.

"Oh this is gonna' be too easy," Ice laughed before leaping and snatching up #88 and #89 by their collars, "I'm going to enjoy kicking your butts and taking your lunch money," he said menacingly.

"Hunts Clan, attack!" the older agents charged into battle. The other Hunts Clan members proved to be more evenly matched with the rest of the Ice Gang. Two Hunts Clan soldiers assaulted Cobra, but the swift-footed dragon hybrid managed to dodge and parry their blows, three more Hunts Clan agents battled Fist, the strongest member of Drago's posse easily overpowered the trio with punches and kicks. Drago and Eric took on the Prof. "Foolish dragons, no matter how many times you interfere, the Hunts Clan will persevere!" The professor withdrew his staff and swung at them.

"'Hunts Clan' huh? Yeah, real original name," Eric said sarcastically, drawing his own sword and slashed at Mythosbane, parrying his moves with his own.

Drago also attacked, slashing at the professor with his claws and swung his tail. With two skilled dragons attacking him Mythosbane had trouble protecting himself. In desperation he swiped at Drago with his cybernetic claw arm, causing the son of Shendu to leap backwards, he then summoned the arm's wrist-mounted laser cannon and fired at Drago. "Whoa, looks like you punks are packing some heat, but I'm a natural Fire Demon, I'm packing even bigger heat!" Drago then cupped his hands and summoned a fireball twice the size of a basketball at Mythosbane. The professor leapt out of the way, the fireball collided with a shelf, obliterating it.

Outside, above the store Jake Long glided into the scene, "Fu, I'm coming up on the scene now," Jake whispered into his com link. He arrived just in time to see an explosion shake the store and shatter the front windows. "Whoa…looks like someone has already beaten me to the party!" Jake landed and slithered into the store to see the battle between the Hunts Clan and Drago's posse. "More dragons? Who are they?" Jake swung his long tail and whacked Mythosbane, sending the Hunts Clan elder flying against some more shelves.

Drago and Eric glanced back at Jake in surprise. "There are other dragons here? That would explain why there are Dragon Slayers here," Drago mused. Five more Hunts Clan soldiers charged at Jake and Drago. Both dragons easily dispatched their foes: Jake's fortuitous body easily dodged their bladed staffs before throttling them with his long, thick tail, while Drago's strong arms and legs crushed his opposition.

"Drat, the American Dragon is here now," Mythosbane growled as he recovered from his fall, "Hunts Clan, take whatever you're carrying and retreat!" The agents obeyed their officer and snatched up what they could before fleeing the scene. The professor was the last to exit the store. Before leaving he turned towards his foes, "This is not over, dragons!" The professor then drew a smoke bomb out of his pocket and tossed it at them. Jake and Eric flapped their wings to blow away the smoke; by the time it had cleared there was no sign of the Hunts Clan.

"Darn, they got away again!" Jake groaned, scanning the area with his dragon eyes.

"That was some mighty impressive moves, fellow dragon, I could use someone like you on my team," Drago said, strolling up to Jake.

"And who are you?" asked Jake.

"I am Drago, Son of Shendu," Drago replied.

"Son of Shen-who now?" Jake asked.

"Serve me well and I will bestow upon you great rewards when I become ruler of the world!" Drago proclaimed.

Jake stood there bewildered, "Uhh…yeah…I'm not looking for a part time job right now, but thanks for the offer," he said sheepishly.

Drago was both shocked and appalled by the American Dragon's reply, "You're refusing me?"

"Oh boy, dude," Ice stepped in, "that ain't a smooth move saying 'no' to the D-man." Jake cocked an eyebrow.

"Do you know who you're dealing with?" Drago asked, suppressing his anger.

"Uhh…the 'D-man'?" Jake replied sarcastically.

Drago snarled in annoyance, "If you refuse to bow to me I have no choice but to destroy you," Drago exhaled a plume of fire from his mouth.

Jake quickly hopped backwards to avoid the flames. "Whoa! What do you think you're doing, yo?"

"Drago, wait!" Eric intervened, grabbing Drago's shoulder, "he's a dragon just like us, why are you attacking him? Aren't we supposed to take back the world for dragons?" Eric asked in confusion.

"Those who do not follow me will be punished," Drago snarled shrugging off Eric's hand, "now stand aside." Drago formed another fireball in his cupped claws and hurled it at Jake.

Jake soared into the air, "Look, yo, I don't know what your problem is, but I didn't do anything, you got to get some anger management, later!" The American Dragon then disappeared behind the rooftops.

"Yo, what's the plan, boss?" asked Cobra.

"Garr...forget about him, he's not important. What matters now is that we know the identity of our enemies, and I have their scent so I should sniff out their hideouts" Drago announced, emphasizing by taking in a deep breath through his nose, "and when we do find them, we'll teach them a lesson and take the power they have!"

Not long after that the Hunts Clan managed to make it back to their hidden headquarters. When the agents delivered his report to his leader, the Huntsman was not at all pleased. "You fools, how could you let the American Dragon interfere again?"

"Forgive us, Master, but it wasn't just the American Dragon we had to deal with, we were attacked by another group of dragons, and these were different from the ones that usually aid the American Dragon."

Now it was the Huntsman's turn to be surprised, "Another group of dragons? But our spies have not notified that the Dragon Council had sent more of their agents into New York. Describe them to me, soldier." The agents provided as detailed a report as they could. When they were finished the Huntsman's eyes widened in both fear and anger. He rushed to a nearby laptop monitor and entered some data. On the screen Drago's image appeared, "Was this the dragon that attacked you, men?" asked the Huntsman as he showed the image to his troops, all of them agreed that it was. The Huntsman seethed with inner hate, in his anger he smashed the monitor into the ground.

Nearby Hunts Girl (Rose) was startled by her leader's reaction. "Master, what's the matter? What's so important about this particular dragon?"

The Huntsman took in some deep breaths to calm his anger, "My fellow Hunters and Slayers, this dragon and his father are two prime reasons why the Hunts Clan exists: to slay dragons and other magical creatures. The creature you fought today was Drago, the son of the Fire Demon, Shendu, both Drago and Shendu are high on are list of most wanted dragons to slay. If Drago and his followers are here in New York City, we must make sure to claim their lives before we lose this opportunity.

_Meanwhile, at Lao Shi's electronic shop_

"Jake, can you tell me more about these dragons you encountered?" Lao Shi asked.

"I told you, G, they were human-like dragons like us, but had green skin and couldn't fly, well except for one of them, anyway their leader said his name was Drago or something like that…"

Lao Shi and Fu Dog's eyes widened in horror. Lao Shi withdrew a magical book from inside his desk and flipped through the pages. "Jake, would this happen to be the Drago you encountered?" Lao Shi asked. Several inches above the book's surface a magical holographic image of Drago's image appeared.

"Yeah! That's him! So, Gramps, what's the deal with this guy?"

"I certainly hoped it wasn't him, but unfortunately it seems it was, it was THE Drago." Lao Shi muttered fearfully.

"Jake, Drago and his father Shendu are very evil and dangerous dragons, they're so powerful that they could go claw to claw with the Dark Dragon," Fu Dog started to explain.

Lao Shi proceeded to tell Jake about Shendu's origins as a Demon Sorcerer, his family's defeat and resurrection and their recent activities. "Drago is just as nasty as his father, he shares Shendu's dream of conquering the world, enslaving the human race and having dragons and demons rule the earth!"

"Whoa, that sounds serious, man!" Jake exclaimed.

"It is, kid. Fortunately Shendu was recently defeated and reduced to his stone statue form again and was captured by a secret government organization or something like that, so I'm sure we don't have to worry about him for now, but junior is still roaming free, if he's on the loose we're in for a world of trouble!" Fu Dog explained.

"Jake, be extra careful around Drago and his group, I can't emphasize how dangerous he is!" Lao Shi warned.

"Yo, don't sweat it, G," Jake boasted, "I'm the American Dragon, no renegade punk dragon is going to get the best of me!"

Both Fu Dog and Lao Shi shook their heads and sighed, "Jake, Pride always comes before a fall," Lao Shi said.

"Say what now?"

"He means 'don't get a swelled head,' kid, and he's got a reason to be fearful if you've lived as long as we have you learn a thing or two."

_Back at the Crime Scene_

Captain Black and the J-Team had arrived at the hardware store that the Hunts Clan had raided. "What happened here?" Jade asked.

"It's just like I told you," Cpt. Black said, "this looks like the work of those criminals we're searching for."

"It looks like this place has been thoroughly burned too, Drago is most likely involved in this," Jackie stated.

"Captain Black, sir," a Section 13 agent shouted, "I found the security feed for the store."

"Good work, agent, patch it through," Black ordered. Everyone gathered around the monitor to watch the video feed. They saw the Hunts Clan agents raiding the supplies.

"Whoa…who are those freaks?" Jade asked.

"I believe they call themselves the Hunts Clan, a peculiar group that believes its doing a service to the world by hunting down magical and supernatural phenomenon," Black continued to explain.

"Ai yah! Those fools! The world is sustained by magic and chi, and there needs to be a balance of both good and evil for the world to survive!" Uncle shouted in an angry passion. It wasn't much longer when Drago and his posse arrived on the scene and began fighting it out with the Hunts Clan. "Ah cha! The delinquent dragon was here!"

Then the team was surprised to see a sixth dragon appear and begin fighting the Hunts Clan, "Whoa! ANOTHER Dragon? How many dragons are there still left in the world? I thought that since Shendu got the Dragon Talisman power that he was the only dragon left in the world, what's going on?" asked Jade. They continued to watch the dragons drive off the Hunts Clan and then Drago's attempted attack on Jake Long. "What? I thought Drago was trying to make the world a place for dragons, why is he attacking that one?"

"Uncle has read in old books in his library that in ancient times humans and dragons used to live at the same time on the earth and some have learned to coexist with each other in peace and harmony, even to the point of working together," Uncle started to explain, "Uncle has also read that some of these dragons have managed to survive in hiding in tightly-knitted family groups that have learned to blend in with human society to evade danger, especially from ignorant murderers like the Hunts Clan."

"Whoa, so you mean that dragons could be living around us in disguise? I knew Mrs. Hartman was strange, I bet she's a dragon," Jade joked.

"Jade, stop playing around," Jackie chided.

"No, Jackie, Jade is right," Uncle responded.

"I'm right? Woo hoo, go Jade!"

"These dragons are masters of disguise, there's no telling where they may be."

"We can worry about that later," Captain Black announced, "I don't know about you but I'm bushed, I say we call it a night and continue our investigation in the morning." The rest of the J-Team and Section 13 agents all nodded and murmured in agreement. They all found a suitable hotel to check into. Jade had a difficult time sleeping, with all of the things she had learned about dragons she couldn't help but allow her restless mind to wander before drifting to sleep.

_The Next Morning_

Jake, like all teenagers, enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday mornings without worry of school. Unfortunately being the American Dragon had its downsides, such as 24/7 vigilance, which he would once again learn this morning. Jake's cell phone rang at 7:30 that morning, which was still early in teenager standards. Jake groggily reached for his phone and flipped it open. Before he could answer Lao Shi's loud voice exploded from the other side of the receiver. "JAKE! GET UP AND GET GOING NOW! GIANT SNAKE IS ON BROOKLYN BRIDGE!"

Jake quickly clicked off the receiver and groaned despondently, "Aww man!"

Captain Black also received a call on his cell phone that morning. "Everyone, listen up, I just received a report that a 'monster' is attacking the Brooklyn Bridge. We've been ordered to assist the local authorities with this crisis. Everyone, move out!"

Surely enough, another one of Scum Labs' escaped mutants was attacking Brooklyn's famous landmark. This time the monster was Kingston, the King Cobra. Kingston resembled any other cobra, with green, scaly skin and a reddish underbelly. He did, however, retain the arms and legs he had while he was human. Using his circuitous, snake-like body, Kingston was constricting the support columns of the Brooklyn Bridge, hoping to trap traffic stuck on the bridge and eating them at his leisure.

Jake Long didn't take long to respond to the situation. The American Dragon rocketed through the air towards the bridge and its assailant. "Hey, Mr. Forked-Tongue, I don't know if you know that there weren't any plans for a construction project on the Brooklyn Bridge, so why don't you just take your sorry tail and slither back whatever hole you came from!" Jake haughtily taunted the mutant. Kingston hissed and propelled his long neck forward, attempting to swallow Jake. "I'll take that as a 'no.' All right, fang face, bring it on!" Jake zoomed around the giant serpent's head, spitting fireballs and swatting it with his tail. Kingston hissed and snarled in anger, snapping his venom-filled jaws.

Not long after that Captain Black's troops had arrived on the scene, many of them armed with bazookas. "All right, men, there's the target, prepare yourselves for a real challenge, troops!" The soldiers all saluted in affirmation. Captain Black took out his binoculars to get a better look at their target and noticed the long red shape zooming around the snake's head. "Is that a dragon?" Captain Black asked in disbelief.

"What, a dragon? Is it Drago or any of his enforcers?" Jackie asked.

"Negative, Jackie, this dragon is different, it's red and can fly but it's a lot thinner than Eric, this one is a new one," Capt. Black announced. Kingston sneered at Jake's attempts to attack him. Capt. Black then turned to Jackie and handed him a vile of purple liquid, "Jackie, my scientists have concocted this sedative, I hope that you can administer it to that monster, my troops and I will provide cover fire if you can."

"What? Why me?" Jackie asked nervously.

"Because you're the best kung fu warrior I know, well, technically speaking you're the only martial artist besides the criminals we've face that I know of but that's not the point, I really could use your help on this," Capt Black answered.

Jackie sighed, "All right, Capt Black, I'll do what I can, just be careful with those guns," Jackie replied solemnly before charging straight at the snake.

"You heard him, men, cover him!" Black ordered his troops to fire on Kingston. The bazooka shells pummeled the snake.

"How do I end up in situations like this?" Jackie asked himself as he jumped onto Kingston's tail. The snake Kaiju felt the smaller human crawling up his spine and hissed. Jackie gasped in fear when he saw the snake turn its gaze towards him. Kingston snapped his teeth at Jackie who used his tail like a staircase. "Bad day! Bad day! Bad day! Bad day!" Jackie cried as he scrambled up Kingston's tail. The snake angrily shook Jackie off, sending him hurtling, while at the same time the colossal tail impacted with Jake Long, who was flitting around the air.

Both the martial artist and the dragon landed in a heap along the road. "Man, why did it have to be snakes?" Jake groaned. The American Dragon was no stranger to fighting serpents, once he fought against the three snake-haired Gorgon sisters: Fury, Euryale and Medusa. Jake also retrieved his first Aztec Skull from the clutches of an enormous Guardian Serpent, and he had to free innocent people under the spell of the Krylock Demon, a vicious hybrid of cobra and scorpion.

"You're telling me," Jackie responded, rubbing away an ache from the back of his head. Jackie recalled the time when he had to retrieve the Snake Talisman from a temple filled with hordes of snakes as well as an enormous one that attempted to eat him alive. "Huh?" At that moment both Jackie and Jake became aware of each others' presence and turned towards each other before comically gasping in surprise. Their moment of meeting was interrupted by an angry wail. Kingston hissed and raised his enormous tail and aimed it at Jackie and Jake. Both again screamed in fear, then dashed out of the way just in time before the tail struck the concrete.

"It's a good thing I came prepared," as soon as Jackie landed on his own two feet he heard the familiar voice of his niece nearby.

"Wha…! Jade! What are you doing here, this is too dangerous!" Jackie shouted, but then realized that his niece was nowhere in sight, "Uhh, Jade, where are you?"

"Right here, Uncle Jackie," in the spot next to Jackie Jade materialized out of thin air. Jackie jumped back in surprise, "the Snake Talisman works like a charm." Before Jackie could say a word Jade snatched up the sedative from his hand. "Don't worry, Uncle Jackie, I'll take care of this one," without another word both the sedative and Jade disappeared into thin air.

"It's too dangerous, Jade, wait!" Jackie cried out, "you don't understand, snakes don't see like humans do!" Sure enough Kingston, being a snake, was able to detect Jade, and so he followed her every move.

Jake Long noticed Kingston's odd movements, as if he was watching something that he could not see. "Hmm…Eye of the Dragon!" One of Jake's powers of a dragon was enhancing his vision, able to see things that normal human beings could not. Focusing on his dragon powers Jake scanned Kingston's line of sight and saw the invisible Jade. Kingston reared back, preparing to strike. "Whoa, look out!" Jake cried out and dove, snatching up Jade before the cobra could strike. Jake flew a few yards and placed Jade gently on the ground, "Hey, Yo, I don't how you made yourself invisible, but snakes don't see using light, they see based on heat, your body temperature gave you away," Jake explained to Jade.

"I knew I should have paid more attention in Science Class," Jade grumbled to herself, "Wait a minute…AAAAHHHH! A dragon!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy, I'm on your side," Jake panicked a bit.

"So you're not friends with Shendu or Drago?" Jade asked sheepishly.

"What? How do you know about them?" Jake asked.

"Never mind about that, watch out!" a female voice yelled. Kingston was about to bite down on Jade and Jake when a woman in form-fitting black clothing kicked the king cobra in the side of the face.

"Viper, you're here!" Jade cheered happily. Viper was another member of the J-Team. She was an ex-professional thief who at first clashed with Jackie over moral issues. She especially had a special affection for the Snake Talisman, especially because of her name. Eventually Viper did renounce her criminal ways and has aided the J-Team on numerous occasions. Now she has come to help out once again.

"Don't worry, Jade, I'll take it from here," Viper said, flipping her long dark hair aside.

"Wait, Viper, you're going to need the sedative," Jade said reaching desperately into her pocket.

"Already have it," Viper said holding up the vial, "Jade, you should know me better than that," Viper smirked as she effortlessly leaped onto Kingston's back, Jade pouted when she realized Viper had snatched away the vial. Kingston frantically tried to get Viper off of him, reaching for her with his human-like arms and slamming his tail, but Viper managed to make her way onto the cobra's head, flipped over his short mug and hurled the vial of sedative down the Kaiju's throat.

Kingston gagged, his forked tongue rattling like the tail of a rattlesnake. The cobra snarled at Viper. "Men, we need to buy Jackie and his friends some time for the sedative to work, continue firing!" Capt Black shouted, the rest of the Section 13 agents again aimed their bazookas at the king cobra, small explosions littered his surface.

Jake propelled himself into the air and joined in the battle, "Time to lower your hood, you belly-crawler!" The dragon bathed Kingston with a wave of fire, his twin hoods providing a large target. Kingston shrieked in defeat, with a mighty crash Kingston's charred body fell to the ground, causing the entire bridge to shake.

Section 13 all cheered in victory, Capt Black himself clapped, "Nice work, men, get the chairman of Scum Labs on the horn for me, he has another clean up job to do."

Jake landed before the J-Team. "Thanks for your help back there," Jake said as he transformed back into his human form in a flash of blue electrical energy, "I don't think I could have done it on my own."

"Whoa, you can turn into a human, too? That's awesome!" Jade shouted.

"Jade, don't be so rude," Jackie interrupted, "I apologize for our behavior; it's just that we've never actually met a good dragon before."

"I don't know how you can think dragons can be bad, I've only met two bad dragons in my life," Jake replied.

"You mean Shendu and Drago, right?" Jade asked.

"Actually no, but I've heard about those two," the American Dragon replied.

"Excuse me young man, err…dragon, whatever you are, I think we'd appreciate it if you fully explained what's going on around here," Capt Black requested.

Jake sighed, "Well, I don't suppose it would do any harm, since you seem familiar with the magical world anyway." Jake stood aside and retrieved his cell phone from his back pocket. "Gramps, this is Jake, we're going to have a serious talk."

_Several hours later_

"Ai yah! So the legends were indeed true, there is a secret society of Dragons that lives all over the world and protects the magical world!" Uncle exclaimed in excitement.

"And there was a secret government agency that investigated the magical world!" Lao Shi exclaimed in equal excitement.

Jake had invited the J-Team to his grandpa's electronics store to introduce both parties to each other and explain the whole situation.

"So these criminals I keep getting reports on, they're called the Hunts Clan?" Capt Black asked.

"Yes, they are a dangerous cult, in fact we Dragons consider them one of the Thirteen Worst Threats to the Magical World," Lao Shi explained, "they have an insane obsession with slaying us dragons and all other magical life and establish a new world order."

"What this Hunts Clan seeks threatens the very balance of the universe," Uncle trembled, "the world is sustained by the magic within it, and if they were to succeed in their goal the very world could be destroyed."

"Ai yah! Finally, someone who understands how serious the situation is!" Lao Shi applauded.

"Uncle has experienced and learn many things in his long life," Uncle replied, the two elderly Chinese men extended and shook hands.

"But this still doesn't answer what the Hunts Clan is planning with whatever they stole from Scum Labs," Fu Dog stated.

"Not to mention that Drago and his group is on the loose here in New York," Jackie also stated.

"Rose, isn't there any way you could just tell us where the Hunts Clan's secret head quarters is?" Jake asked over his com link.

"Sorry, Jake, but the Hunts Clan has many eyes and ears, I could easily be caught, I'm at risk communicating with you this way," Rose answered on the other side.

"Man, this is really complicated situation we have here," Spud sighed.

"Hmm…you know, Capt Black, if we could just find one of these Hunts Clan agents you could just plant one of your tracking devices on them to find it?" Jade asked.

Black scratched his chin in contemplation, "That could work, but only if we could actually find them."

"Yeah, and aren't the Hunts Clan's headquarters in some other dimension?" Trixie asked.

"It's the only lead we have at the moment, we'll keep an eye out for any of the Hunts Clan's activities," Lao Shi announced.

"That might be sooner than you may think," Rose said over the com link, "I just happened to hear that the Hunts Clan is researching a shrine in the Museum of Natural History, I think it's called the Shrine of Mesogog, apparently the shrine holds some sort of precious gems that the Hunts Clan is possibly interested in."

"All right, so when they come out, we'll kick their tails and send them crying home to their mommies, and when they do, we'll follow them and jump them at their home base!" Jade shouted.

"Girl, I like your style!" Jake exclaimed and gave a high-five to Jade. On the other side of the com link Rose growled, becoming slightly jealous of Jake's attitude towards Jade.

Just outside the shop another group of ears was eavesdropping on the whole conversation. "Did you hear that boys? So all our enemies our going to be throwing it down at the Museum of Natural History tonight," Drago whispered.

"Yeah, and it looks like we're going to be crashing the party," Ice said, rubbing his hands together.

"Yeah, I hear that, let's go rough em' up!" MC Cobra added.

"But what was all that talk about precious gems about?" Eric asked.

"I did sense a very tiny shred of power from the direction of the Museum, but it's very faint, hardly worth investigating, but if these Hunts Clan pansies and the Chans all meeting up there I think this would be a good time to strike and take care of all our enemies at once," Drago explained, "so rest up, fellas, we've got a big night a head of us."


	4. Ch 4: American Dragon Saga Part 2

American Dragon Saga Part 2: Seeing a New Side

That month New York City's Museum of Natural History was hosting a new exhibit. From the city of Reef Side in California was dedicated a new piece. The exhibit was a stone alter with five crystals placed in it, one gem being red, another blue, a third yellow, a fourth black and the last white. These were the Dino Gems, powerful stones birthed from the meteor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs sixty five million years prior. The gems also contained the DNA of dinosaurs and were connected to the energy of the Morphing Grid, a cosmos-sized network of energy. Dr. Tommy Oliver had discovered the Red, Blue and Yellow gems on an archaeological dig and used their energies to power the armor, weapons and technology of the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. The Black and White Gems were discovered by an evil mad scientist named Mesogog, who intended to use the energies for himself in order to conquer the Earth and turn it into a world for dinosaurs. Instead the Black Gem bonded with Dr. Oliver while the other four bonded with four of Dr. Oliver's High School Students. Together the five battled Mesogog and his genetically engineered monsters and in their final battle, used up all of the Dino Gems' energies to destroy Mesogog once and for all.

Tonight, the gems had drawn the attention of some of the lower-ranking members of the Hunts Clan. #88 and #89 led a small cadre of warriors to the museum. #89, being handy with gadgetry, was able to break through the front doors' locks and led his group inside. While roaming the halls #88 jogged up to his partner and asked, "So what's the big deal about these gems, anyway?"

#89 related the origins of the Dino Gems to #88, followed up by explaining his plan. "I heard some of the higher-ups were a little interested in these old rocks, but they're low on juice right now so we'll need to give them a boost."

"Oh, so you plan to charge their batteries and then present them to the Huntsman, then we'll be praised!" #88 stated.

"Exactly, this will totally show up the professor and his find, oh look, there it is!" The Hunts Clan found the exhibit. It was a simple stone alter made to resemble a group of dinosaurs crowding around each other. The most prevalent of the dinosaurs that could be seen were a T-Rex, a Triceratops, a Pteranadon and a Brachiosaurus. On top of the stone alter were the five Dino Gems, simple spherical crystals, each one a different color: Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and White. #88 sprayed a mist from his spear, revealing a laser grid around the shrine. Nearby #89 disabled the security panel, causing the laser grid to fade.

"All right, now let's snag these rocks and head home!" #88 proclaimed, reaching for the gems.

Suddenly a fireball hit the ground just a few inches from where #88 was standing. The young Hunts Boy screamed pathetically as he leapt out of the way. "I was hoping that I'd get to fight some of your higher ups, but I guess you'll do," the casual voice of a young man hissed. The Hunts Clan turned to see Drago and his group standing nearby, smoke drifting from the dragon prince's mouth, "but I suppose you'll do just fine, we'll teach you to meddle with forces outside of your feeble comprehension."

"Right, and after we do that, we'll be taking those priceless rocks off your hands," Strike Master Ice added, MC Cobra laughed in agreement and DJ Fist cracked his knuckles and smoke drifted from.

#88 screamed in terror and ran, "Mama! Help me!" #89 joined his partner in panic, "Quick! Send out an S.O.S.!" The other young Hunts Clan warriors stood their ground and charged at Drago's posse. The son of Shendu took personal pleasure in fighting the Dragon Slayers, swiftly defeating them with a series of punches and kicks, a wicked smile on his face. Ice was also enjoying himself by breathing and throwing fire at his enemies. Cobra used his dragon speed to get the upper hand on his opponents while Fist randomly lifted heavy objects around him and hurled them around. Eric parried the blows from the Hunts Clans' spears with his sword while using his fiery breath and tail to finish them off.

Drago quickly caught up to #88 and #89 and grabbed them by the back of their collars; "Naughty brats have to be disciplined," Drago smirked evilly, causing the two Hunts Boys to shiver in fear. The posse of dragon hybrids was able to easily handle the other Hunts Clan soldiers.

Eric was the first to head to the shrine with the Dino Gems. His eyes widened in awe and his heart pounded with excitement, he was familiar with the origins of the Dino Gems and how the Dino Thunder Rangers utilized their powers. "I've always wanted to see the Dino Gems with my own eyes!" Eric exclaimed happily as his hands hesitantly reached for them.

Ice casually strolled up and plucked the gems from their places on the alter. "Yeah, well feast your eyes on these babies while you still can, because we're going to hock these babies for cash," Ice replied. Cobra and Fist peered over their friend's shoulders, their eyes equally wide and mouths agape as Ice. "Boys, these old rocks are going to make us rich!"

"Yeah, rich in years of solitary confinement!" Jade's voice reverberated through the hall. All Dragons and Dragon Slayers turned to see the J-Team and their new friends at the entrance to the hall.

"Uh, Jade, I think you just eliminated the element of surprise," Jackie sighed.

"Oops sorry, Uncle Jackie," Jade apologized after realizing her error, rubbing the back of her head and smiling nervously.

"Chan! You're always the one to crash the party!" Drago said, almost welcoming Jackie Chan's arrival. The museum transformed into a warzone, the American Dragon Team joined forces with Section 13 to battle the Hunts Clan while all three forces dealt with Drago and his posse. Amidst the turmoil no one noticed the ghostly claw reaching out from the shrine where the Dino Gems had originally been placed. The spiritual appendage pulled its host from the rock, a ghostly creature without shape or mass that drifted away unseen. Just as the spirit floated past Eric, the young dragon felt a chill in the air, and it was like the chill one gets from a sudden breeze or from the air conditioner, this was different, he felt it in his soul. Eric glanced around him trying to discern the source. Just as quickly as Eric felt the chill was gone, not able to find the source Eric shrugged his shoulders and prepared for the coming brawl.

Jade came face to face with the Hunts Boys. "Hey look, #89, looks like a little girl wants to meet us," #88 said smugly.

"I'm always willing to catch up with the fans," #89 said with a smirk.

"In your dreams, pal!" Jade performed a jump kick, knocking #89 to the ground with one swift strike. She turned to #88 with a confident smirk on her face. Surprised and terrified by what he just saw #88 began screaming in panic and fled. "Fighting like a girl doesn't seem so bad anymore, does it?"

Meanwhile, Drago and Jake stared each other down. A pair of Hunters charged at Drago with their staffs drawn, but Eric came to the aid of his leader, knocking down one with a strong punch while batting away the other with his thick tail. This left Drago undistracted as he faced Jake. "So we meet again, whelp," Drago smirked as he poised himself for battle."

"Yo, fool, I don't know what you think you're doing, but you're in the AmDrag's territory now, so you better back off!" Jake taunted.

Drago frowned, "Foolish, hatchling, how dare you talk to the future ruler of this world in such a tone?" Drago snarled in slight anger.

"Future Ruler of the world? Not on my watch, punk!" Jake retorted.

"Then prepare to be burned!" Drago opened his fang-filled maw and unleashed a sheet of flames that blanketed the area. Jake leapt in to the air just before the flames covered him. He sprang forward with his right foot aimed directly at Drago, when the two of them collided Drago slid back a couple of feet. Drago growled while Jake swung his tail around. Drago then grabbed Jake's tail and swung the American Dragon against a wall, knocking a few artifacts off some nearby shelves and onto the floor. Drago lunged forward with his fist drawn but Jake leapt out of the way just in time to avoid his foe's punch, instead Drago's fist impacted with a wall leaving a massive dent and cracks.

Drago then unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at Jake who did his best to block. Jake retaliated by grabbing Drago's arms. The two teenage dragons pushed against each other, attempting to overcome the other's strength. Drago proved to be the stronger dragon as he shoved Jake against the opposite wall and proceeded to crush him. Jake grunted and exhaled a small burst of fire from his mouth into Drago's face, catching him off guard. Jake then delivered a kick with both feet, propelling Drago back.

All of a sudden another small squadron of Hunts Clan soldiers led by Prof. Mythosbane. The professor marched straight to #88 and #89, "Lads, I think it's a good time for a tactical retreat, Hunts Master has deemed that this operation is more troublesome than helpful," the two Hunts Boys looked downcast, "still, we may have a good consolation prize, we may be able to slay one of the most wanted dragons, Drago himself," the professor pulled out a bazooka-sized cannon, it was one of the same models that fired freezing cold water with conducted electricity.

Captain Black was stupefied by this development, "How did you get that weapon? That is exclusive Section 13 hardware!"

The professor glanced at Black, "We were able to confiscate this weapon after we saw how useful it was in fighting dragons, you see we have spies all over the world and we keep close tabs on each other, now if you'll excuse me, I have a dragon to slay," the professor aimed the cannon at Drago and pulled the trigger, unleashing a torrent of electrified water.

Eric was the first of the dragons to notice the Hunts Clan's activities, "Drago, look out!" Eric shoved his leader out of the way, taking the water. The young dragon shrieked in pain as electricity coursed through his body for a few brief seconds before collapsing.

"Whoa! Looks like Big E is down for the count, D-man!" MC Cobra stated. Outside the museum the sound of police sirens could be heard. "Looks like we've got more company."

"Hunts Clan, retreat!" The professor led his small cadre of warriors into the shadows, fading into the darkness like ninjas.

"Yo, D-man, I think it'd be a good idea to cut our losses and blow this place," Ice suggested.

"Not until you return what you've stolen," Jackie Chan yelled as he performed a sweeping kick that knocked Strike Master Ice off his feet, causing the punk to accidentally throw the Dino Gems into the air with Jackie catching them before they fell to the floor.

Ice groaned as Cobra helped him off the floor while Fist punched an enormous hole in the wall for the dragons to escape through. Drago snarled in anger, "The Hunts Clan will suffer for their disrespect for the dragon race!" The young dragon glanced with concern towards Eric who was still lying stunned from the blow dealt to him, "Eric, I'll come back for you, I swear it! Chans, this isn't over!" With that Drago and his posse of dragon hybrids escaped through the hole in pursuit of the Hunts Clan.

"We can't allow the local authorities to know what happened here," Cpt. Black stated hearing the sounds of the police outside coming closer, "I'll have my men confiscate the security feed and replace it with edited footage."

Jake stood beside Eric's prone form and asked, "What do we do with him?"

Jackie gazed sadly at the fallen dragon, "We can't just leave him, that would raise too much suspicion, besides he looks like he's been hurt badly, it would be wrong to leave him this way," Jackie glanced up at Black, "I think we should take him with us."

Black nodded, "I agree, but we'll have to restrain, and maybe when he's well enough we can get some useful information out of him."

The Chans brought Eric to Lao Shi's electronics shop, a safe haven from the non-supernatural community. With Lao Shi's obvious knowledge of dragon/human anatomy, the group was able to nurse Eric, however for safety reasons they bound Eric to a chair and wrapped a gag around his mouth, preventing him from speaking or breathing fire. Several hours later Eric came to and found himself in the situation he was in. A chill ran down his spine at the thought of what his opponents had planned for him. "He's coming to," Rose announced after observing him. Soon both the J-Team and their new friends gathered around Eric, the young dragon scanned each individual with sad, fearful eyes, trembling.

Uncle had an inquisitive look on his face while Jake and Jade both had looks of curiosity about them. Jackie, Tohru and Rose had looks of concern and pity for their prisoner. Black was the first to speak as he stepped forward. "You're in cahoots with Drago, aren't you?" Black asked calmly but still with a tone of authority, "we need you to explain what's going on."

Eric blinked in bewilderment, unable to reply because of the gag that was still in place. Jackie then took a step forward, placing a reassuring hand on Black's shoulder and nudged forward. "Listen, please understand that it's important that we know what's going on," Jackie began, "we don't wish any harm on you, but it's in your best interest that you cooperate with us, do you understand?" Eric nodded his head, surprised. There was something about how this man spoke, so gentle and compassionate, that calmed his nerves a bit.

Rose stood beside him, she was close enough for Eric to smell the shampoo she used, "I'm going to undo the gag around your mouth but only if you agree to not retaliate against us," Rose explained, "I know you must feel some negative feelings towards us right now, considering the circumstances, but please believe that we don't want any trouble, if you cooperate we'll go easier on you, do you understand?" Again Eric nodded, Rose's feminine presence also helped calm him down.

Rose undid the knot, undoing the gag from Eric's mouth. Eric again scanned the mass of faces around him. "What do you want know? Where should I start?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"Uncle suggests you start from the beginning," Uncle replied

And so Eric began the long process of explaining his situation. He began from when Drago first attacked his workplace and how he attempted to fend him off, then later encountering him and his thugs and being offered the powers of a dragon and accepting them out of fear and his desire for power.

"Okay, I dig that, but what are you guys doing in New York?" Jake asked.

"One day when Drago was meditating," Eric began, "he had a vision of dragon slayers here in the city."

"He must be referring to the Hunts Clan," Jackie replied, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Not only that, but Drago also sensed a powerful energy source in possession of these dragon slayers and felt it best to retrieve this power to further his own goals and to exact vengeance against the slayers as well," Eric continued.

"Energy source, what could he be talking about, Rose?" Jake asked.

"Hmm…" Rose scratched her chin for a moment, "I wonder if this might have to do with the Scum Labs heist a couple nights ago."

This worried Capt. Black. He was aware that the Hunts Clan had stolen potentially bio-hazardous material from Scum Labs and if the material could be used to make weapons, in the wrong hands it could cause global catastrophe. "So the Hunts Clan's activities and Drago's appearance in the city are connected, I think it's best that we continue our surveillance of New York for any of the Hunts Clan's or Drago's activities and hopefully lead us to whatever this power source may be."

Eric took the time to rest his weary heart and soul while he was still in captivity. In his dreams he was once again visited by the gray wolf, who immediately took on the form of the noble warrior, Omni Link. "We meet again," Omni Link said with pleasant calm. _"You may be destined to become a hero of legend, but your current power would not suffice,"_ Eric frowned despondently. _"You must use your courage to seek power, and find it you must, only then will you become the hero this world despairs for."_

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Eric.

"I'm sorry, it was something that my sensei once said to me, and now that I pass on his teachings to you, I feel it necessary to say them myself," Omni Link replied. "But just as my sensei told me, if you do find the courage and you wish to save the world from the horrors it faces then you will be worthy to receive the secrets I hold. I tell you this because I do believe you have the innate courage worthy of my techniques." Link's complement lightened the tension that was felt between them.

"Before we begin, like before, I must ensure you have mastered my previous technique, the Shield Attack," somehow Eric's usual sword and shield materialized in his hands, "Come at me!" Eric wasted no time in charging at Omni Link and bashing him with his shield. Omni Link staggered backward, "Impressive, now it's time to teach you my next technique, the Back Slice."

The two warriors once again squared off. "A mere shield attack is no match for an enemy protected no just by a shield, but by a thick, full-body coat of armor," Link began, "However, such enemies are often focused on guarding against frequent frontal assaults that they often leave their rear unprotected. When facing such an opponent, you must target them and swiftly make your way around your foe by rolling and delivering a jumping strike!" Omni Link then demonstrated, he quickly rolled behind Eric and then just as quickly leapt back to his feet and had the gleaming blade of his sword edged against the back of Eric's neck. "This, is the Back Slice, now show it to me!" Eric practiced the Back Slice with Omni Link for about fifteen minutes. Since Eric's body wasn't as athletic and flexible as Omni Link he needed to practice several times before he finally got it right. With the last try Eric put all his energy into his efforts and delivered a quite potent Back Slice which toppled Omni Link off his feet. Staggering to his feet Omni Link declared "With some practice you will learn to carry yourself well, but you must never forget the proper timing for swinging your sword while you jump. The third hidden skill, the Back Slice, has been passed on to you.

"_Only those who carry the blood of the hero, the one whose spirit is that of the sublime beast, may learn my Hidden Skills." _Link said to Eric._ "Grow stronger, test your courage."_ With these final words the scene whited out and Eric knew this was the end of his vision.

Later that day Jake, Rose and Jade came to visit Eric in his isolation. He eyed them warily, unsure what they wanted with him. "Okay, so, if you're such a good guy, then why do you work for Drago?" Jake asked.

"I told you already," Eric replied, "I didn't want him to hurt me so I joined him."

"But it's more than that isn't it?" Rose asked, "From the way you explained your side of the story, it seems like there was more to it than just fear."

Eric averted his gaze away from them, "You wouldn't understand."

"Try us," Jade began, "Uncle said that you're chi was good, but was smothered in darkness, do you know what he meant by that?"

Eric was silent, hesitant for what he wanted to say. Rose was the first to break the silence, "There must have been a lot of darkness in you to make a deal with a devil like Drago."

"Well you don't know what life has been like for me!" Eric snarled in reply, his face awash with a mix of anger and pained sadness. "You don't know what it's like to feel like an outsider among those you trust, and to lose the love of someone you couldn't live without! Maybe secretly I wanted the power Drago offered so I could get back at everyone and everything that has made me unhappy in this world!" To Eric it felt like his very heart was bleeding with grief, and it bled out through his eyes in the form of his burning hot tears. He gritted his fanged teeth to keep the pain from completely overtaking him.

All three of them were shocked at his sudden outburst. Immediately the sense of shock was followed by one of pity, they could sense all too well the pain in his heart. Obviously there was a lot going on in the mind and heart of their prisoner.

They did not have long to think about it before Lao Shi came rushing in. "JAKE! EMERGENCY! A YETI IS ATTACKING THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING!"

Jake gave his grandfather a quizzical look, "The Empire State Building? What is this, a bad monster movie remake?"

"JAKE! THIS IS SERIOUS!"

In the other room they could hear Capt. Black talking on his cell phone. "My hands are tied here. My troops are busy evacuating everyone out of the area and keeping the media at bay, we have no way of combating the creature ourselves!"

A smug smirk appeared on Jake's face, he was always eager for a challenge. "This sounds like a job for the AmDrag, Dragon Up!" Jake instantly transformed in a flash of blue energy into his dragon form and bolted out the door.

"JAKE! WAIT! This foe is different from those you've fought before!" Lao Shi cried out, rushing after his grandson.

Jackie turned to Capt. Black, "I should go to, to help Section 13 escort the people to safety," before leaving out the door, Jackie turned to his Uncle, "Are you sure you'll be all right, Uncle?"

Uncle waved a dismissive hand to his nephew, "Uncle must prepare for when we find the Hunts Clan's lair. We will need to be prepared with special chi spells if we are to combat our enemies. Although they seek to rid the earth of all things magical, who knows what kind of magical powers, they have in their arsenal?" Uncle then turned and scowled, "SO DON'T INTERUPT UNCLE!" Jackie cringed while glancing at Tohru, who gave him an apologetic grimace. Without another word Jackie headed out.

Capt. Black then turned to Rose, "You sure you will be okay here?"

"I'll be fine, it's probably best that the Hunts Clan doesn't know I'm involved with you guys yet," Rose replied, "I'll stay behind and be on the lookout for any transmissions from the Hunts Clan that may be helpful," she then motioned towards Eric, "besides we need someone skilled here to watch over our captive," Eric frowned at the comment.

Black nodded in agreement, drawing his gun from his holster and loading it as he charged out the door.

Lao Shi had been correct when he tried to warn Jake that his next foe was nothing like they faced before: the Yeti that was climbing the Empire State Building was none other than Harry, one of the escaped Scum Labs monsters. Harry was an enormous beast, standing thirty feet tall, covered in shaggy white fur, the only parts of his body not covered in fur were his hands, feet and face, which had gray skin and had a pair of glowering red eyes. Yetis were a supposedly mythological ape-like creature that lived in the snowy mountains. Being a Yeti, Harry was skilled climber, easily scaling the side of the Empire State Building.

The Scum Labs monsters were very violent, devouring and destroying anything that lay in their path. Before Jake arrived Harry had left a path of destruction leading to the Empire State Building. Smashed up cars, broken telephone wires and debris littered the streets. Because of the Yeti's voracious appetite the military was forced to evacuate civilians quickly for the Scum Labs monsters were known to eat human flesh among many other things.

Harry roared and snarled, pounding his enormous fists into the sides of the building. Windows shattered and concrete and steel bent and splintered from the sheer force of the Yeti's strength, raining down upon the unsuspecting streets below. The beast growled, seeking both food and ways to vent his overwhelming rage. No matter what, Harry had to be stopped.

Jake flew in the air around the building, quickly spotting the yeti as he ascended each floor. "All right, time to tame this bad hair day!" The American Dragon was about to lunge at his target when he was stopped by his grandfather.

"Jake! Wait, you must be careful, this creature is a Kaiju." Lao Shi started to explain.

"A Kai-what now?" Jake asked.

"A Kaiju, a very rare breed of monster that possesses great size, strength, resilience and intelligence." Lao Shi explained.

"Intelligence, huh?" Jake then glanced at Harry, who smashed an enormous hole in the side of the building. The beast's nostrils flared as an appetizing aroma wafted into them. Reaching inside Harry pulled out a giant handful of food, probably leftovers left behind by the workers. Jake rolled his eyes, "He doesn't seem that smart to me."

"Just be careful, Jake, don't underestimate your opponent." Lao Shi warned.

"I'm on it, G," Jake replied before gliding to the yeti. Harry greedily gulped down the edible contents in his hand. "Yo, hairball," Jake yelled, Harry groaned and glanced at Jake, "I don't know if you know but the Empire State Building is a national treasure and it really doesn't need some reconstruction done, so why don't you just take your furry hide elsewhere?" Harry snarled and swatted Jake away with the back of his hand like a fly. Jake teetered through the air before composing himself. "Okay, fine, if you want to do it the hard way, we'll do it the hard way!" The young dragon then began spitting fireballs at the yeti. Because of his enormous size the fireballs fizzled against Harry's fur, despite this the flames did sting and the yeti snarled in agitation. Harry continued to swat at Jake Long like an annoying mosquito but the dragon was able to slip in and out like said insect. Eventually Harry was able to grab Jake by his tail, and then flung him away like a sling.

Lao Shi had stayed nearby, observing his grandson do battle against Harry. When he saw Jake being slung around he sighed and decided it was his turn to join the fight. Lao Shi skimmed through the air like a shimmering snake and bathed the yeti in his own fire. Harry roared in pain and attempted to swipe at his new foe. Jake attempted to assist his grandfather by wrapping his tail around the yeti's wrist, preventing him from lashing out at Lao Shi. Without a free arm Harry was defenseless, leaving the yeti vulnerable as Jake and Lao Shi bathed the yeti in more fire. The yeti roared in pain and anger and swung the arm that Jake Long was wrapped around and swung it at Lao Shi, causing the two dragons to become tangled up and causing them to crash through one of the Empire State Building's windows. The two dragons lay stunned from the blow and Harry roared in victory.

Back at the Electronics shop the remaining members of the J-Team and Team Dragon watched the battle with dread. "Looks like Jake and Lao Shi are getting pounded out there," Captain Black said.

Uncle shook his head, "Magic must defeat magic, but it will take a while for Tohru and me to whip up the right magic to combat a monster that size!"

Everything was looking anxiously hopeless. Rose glanced from the corner of her eye Eric watching the whole situation and an idea came to mind. "Maybe you can do it?" Rose asked Eric.

"What? Me?" Eric exclaimed incredulously.

"You heard what he said, this enemy is too much for normal humans to combat, but you're a dragon, I've seen you in battle, you could do a lot better than most of us here," Rose explained.

Eric eyed her suspiciously, "Well yeah, maybe, but aren't I your prisoner? It doesn't really make sense to ask me for help," he replied.

"Please," Rose begged, "if something isn't done Jake and Lao Shi might be seriously hurt, we need your help."

There were a few moments of tense silence. Eric was still very hesitant to help since these two teams were technically his enemies, but Rose's desperation stirred some sympathy in Eric's heart. "How do I get to the Empire State Building?"

A few minutes later Eric found himself flying above the streets of New York. Below Rose guided him to the Empire State Building and soon enough the tall building came into view. On one side was a plume of smoke and just inside Eric could make out the massive shape of Harry the Yeti hanging from the side with one arm while clutching Jake and Lao Shi in the other. Eric flew straight at the yeti and pelted him with fireballs. Harry snarled in irritation and unintentionally let the two dragons in his grasp free.

Eric landed inside the hole that Harry made inside of the building so he could fight the yeti directly. Nearby he spotted some pieces of furniture such as chairs and desks. Eric grabbed the nearest one and hurled it into the face of the yeti. Harry roared as Eric continued pelting him with loose furniture. Meanwhile outside Jake and Lao Shi peppered Harry with even more fireballs.

Harry became increasingly frustrated and reached inside the building and snatched up Eric. The much smaller dragon felt himself being crushed by the beast's immense grip. Fear began to cascade through him, fear of pain, and fear of death. This fear was soon replaced with anger and rage. How dare this monster attack him? Eric could feel it, that dark, corrupting feeling that transformed him into the monster he was when he fought Amanda the Armadillo. Energy surged through Eric and burned Harry's hand. The yeti howled in pain and flung Eric into the air.

As he fell Eric drew back his right hand and clenched it into a fist. He let gravity take him towards Harry and as he fell, Eric's right hand morphed and mutated into the enormous fist of his "Corrupted" form. As he neared the yeti, Eric delivered a sucker punch to Harry's face. The force from the impact was enough to dislodge him from the building and Harry fell several stories and hit the ground with a quaking thud.

Harry groaned as he climbed back to his feet. Jake Long, Eric, Lao Shi and Rose all surrounded the giant monster. "All right, he's on the ropes now, time to deliver the knock out!" The three dragons bathed Harry in a torrent of fire while Rose fired a stun-ray from her staff. Harry howled in a mix of pain and exhaustion. At last the yeti fell to the ground in defeat.

"We'd better leave, the authorities might show up soon," Rose suggested. She, Jake and Lao Shi retreated back to the electronics shop. Eric wasn't certain where to go but decided it was probably best to follow them back to the electronics shop.

The group was greeted with a Hero's Welcome when they returned to the electronics shop. Captain Black quickly started interviewing Jake and Lao Shi for information to put into his report. Rose patted Eric on the shoulder, "Thank you, you don't know how much it means that you helped us," she whispered.

Eric smiled sadly and nodded, he could sense the love Rose had for Jake in her eyes, the same kind of love he longed for. "I wish I had what you had," he admitted.

Rose smiled sympathetically and gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek, "I hope you find it," she replied before joining the group. Eric then turned and headed in the back room to rest, having been physically and emotionally exhausted from the day's events.

As the two teams began to recover from their ordeals they found that they had a lot in common with one another. Uncle and Lao Shi enjoyed games of Chinese checkers with each other and gave suggestions of different tea recipes, Tohru surprisingly learned some new methods of creating spells from Fu Dog and Jade became fast friends with Jake and his friends with video games and sports activities. Only Eric remained to himself as he watched the two teams interact and a part of him wanted to join in.

Several hours after Harry the Yeti was defeated and turned over to the proper authorities Captain Black received a new report. After the incursion at the museum Drago and his gang pursued the Hunts Clan to their hidden base. Although Drago and his gang put up a good fight, Strike Master Ice and his gang were captured leaving Drago outnumbered and forced him to retreat. Having been fatigued from the whole experience Drago became easy prey for the Section 13 agents and he was brought into custody. Even though Rose was of the Hunts Clan she herself did not know the location of this particular base, only the higher-ranking members were permitted with that information and so she proposed interrogating Drago to find out where it was. Both teams interrogated Drago, who was surprised to see Eric among their ranks. Eric was able to convince all three parties to put aside their differences and concentrate and fighting their common enemy, the Hunts Clan, and retrieve the energy source they stole from Scum Labs.

Drago's information leads the two teams to a moderately inhabited warehouse district. They learned that the warehouses were a front to keep their actual base hidden while Hunters in disguise posed as workers. Captain Black turned to everyone present. The extraction team consisted of Jake Long, Lao Shi, Jackie Chan, Jade, Uncle, Tohru, Drago and Eric as well as a small group Section 13 agents. Rose was unable to join the mission since she did not want her identity as a double agent be revealed to the Hunts Clan. She did, however, provide the schematics for the base. Since most Hunts Clan bases followed similar designs her schematics would most likely prove accurate and therefore be helpful with the mission. Black debriefed them on their mission: The agents, posing as public law enforcement, would interrogate the workers, providing a distraction for both the J-Team and Team Dragon to investigate, once inside they had to rely on their own latent talents and skills to make their way through. Jackie and Black would make their way to the control room to disable security while Team Dragon went to rescue the Ice Gang and any other possible magical creatures imprisoned within the facility.

"All right, team, let's move out!" As the agents spoke with the workers, the team couldn't help but notice but certain parts of the area were in disarray: subtle scorch marks covered patches on the ground and the walls and debris lay strewn in others, readily being clean up by able-bodied workers, all were obvious signs of Drago's skirmish with the Hunts Clan. Drago lead his temporary comrades to a specific warehouse where the secret entrance to the underground base was located. Just as they were closing in on the target, however, gunshots and shouting filled the air, the workers had seen through the ruse.

As Captain Black's men engaged the enemy, the group took the warehouse by force and fought their way through. Drago made his way to a garbage shoot at the opposite wall. "In here, this is the secret entrance that we're looking for, now let's go!" Drago wasted no time slipping inside; his desire for revenge consumed him.

Tohru looked at the entrance with some unease; his massive size would prevent him from entering. Uncle sensed his pupil's distress and patted him on the arm, "Don't worry, Tohru, Uncle needs your help here to hold off these hooligans, my old bones can't handle the trip down anyway."

"Normally I would agree with you, but I need to make sure my grandson doesn't get into any trouble," Lao Shi stated.

"Hey come on gramps, why do you have to be so serious?" Jake moaned, "Let's go." Both the American Dragon and his grandfather slipped inside the garbage shoot, followed close behind by Eric, Jackie and Captain Black. Tohru and Uncle faced the oncoming Hunts Clan soldiers. The two got their Chi Spells ready, "Who wants a piece of Uncle?"

Once inside Drago split off from the group to head for the detention area to free Ice and his gang. Eric and Jake accompanied him to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble while Jackie, Captain Black and Lao Shi made their way to the control room to disable security. When they arrived at the control room they found it crawling with Hunts Clan soldiers. Jackie utilized his knowledge of martial arts to defend him from their attacks while Captain Black drew from his military expertise and Lao Shi his Dragon Kung Fu to battle their way through to the control panel.

Throughout the base the Hunts Clan was alerted to the presence of intruders and they made their way to the control room. In the detention area the three dragon teens hid as several Hunts Clan soldiers rushed past them. "All right, it looks like we're clear, let's go," Drago lead his companions into the detention area. Five Hunts Clan soldiers had not left their post and spotted the three. Drago lunged at one and wailed on him. Another soldier rushed at Jake Long, who deftly dodged his attacks before sweeping him off his feet with his tail. A third rushed at Eric and threw a punch at him, but Eric caught his arm and then kneed the soldier in the gut before hurling him over his shoulder. The remaining two soldiers were frightened by the dragons' display of power and fled. Continuing on their way the dragons found several cells containing various creatures inside, one of the cells containing the Ice Gang. "Hey, D-man, you finally made it!" MC Cobra shouted.

Nearby there was a control panel that controlled the cell doors. Jake was the first to step up to it, "I'm going to admit that computer class wasn't my strongest suit," Jake stated as he was trying to figure out the controls, "but if it's anything like playing video games maybe I can…" Before Jake could finish Drago smashed the control panels with a well-directed punch, disabling the locks on the cells. "Well, I guess that works too," Jake replied. Drago then ripped off the door off the Ice Gang's cell while Eric and Jake did the same to the other cell doors, releasing various magical creatures out. The magical creatures fled in all directions and all six dragons regrouped.

The two soldiers who retreated had returned with reinforcements, now there were fifteen of them. The six dragons posed and readied themselves for battle. Each of the six took on at least one soldier at a time. DJ Fist had no problem using his dragon strength to pound one soldier after another. Fist would grab one soldier and then hurl him into another before knocking out yet another with a quick punch. Cobra used his speed to trip up his foes while Ice pelted the soldiers with fire. Jake used his long, sinuous body to dodge incoming laser fire, then using his long tail to defeat more soldiers while coming in close with his claws and fists. Drago and Eric parried their enemies' attacks and used their momentum to move in closer and deliver roundhouse punches and kicks to defeat them. It wasn't long before all fifteen Hunts Clan soldiers lay defeated and unconscious at the dragons' feet.

"You guys got some serious moves," Jake Long complemented.

"You're not so bad yourself," Drago replied, "You should really reconsider my offer of joining us when we take over the world."

"Yeah, I think I still have to think about that," Jake said sarcastically.

"It's probably for the best, I mean I think our little posse is getting a little too big, nowadays," Cobra said gesturing with his thumb at Eric, "especially with this newbie tagging along." Eric gave Cobra an annoyed glare.

"So, D-man, what's the plan?" Ice asked.

"We're going to take down this base and then take back that energy source these foolish dragon slayers stole. Boys, it's time for payback!" Drago growled, small spurts of smoke and fire coming from his mouth as he talked.

"All right, bring on the pain, but how do we find that energy source in the first place?" asked Ice.

"Don't worry, I can feel it down here, it's in the laboratory, follow me!" Drago then rushed down the hall with the Ice gang in pursuit.

"I thought we were supposed to meet up with Captain Black and Jackie before we proceeded?" Jake asked.

"Well, if there's one thing you learn about Drago is that he's really impulsive and doesn't like to be confined, you go ahead and meet up with them and let them know that we're headed for the lab," Eric said. Jake shrugged and turned around towards the way they came.

Back at the control room Jackie, Lao Shi and Captain Black had defeated the troops and Black hacked his way through the security system, disabling them and allowing the remaining forces outside to enter. Not long afterwards Jake entered and reported the situation. The four of them made their way to the laboratory where the energy source would be contained.

Soon the whole J-Team and Team Dragon found themselves inside the lab, facing off with Professor Mythosbane and a fairly large legion of Hunts Clan soldiers and scientists. "All right, you punks, hands up!" Jade shouted. Everyone was surprised to see Jade had joined them.

"WAH! Jade! What are you doing here? This is too dangerous!" Jackie exclaimed.

"Relax, Jackie, I brought backup." Behind Jade marched in several more Section 13 agents.

The Professor glared disdainfully at the intruders, "You've certainly caused quite a ruckus, what do you hope to accomplish here?" he asked.

Drago was the first to step forward, "You have something very powerful in your possession, we're here to take it back," the Son of Shendu explained pointing at a silver briefcase on a lab table on the other side of the room.

The Professor eyed the briefcase with slight nervousness. "Who are you to dare to intrude on our facility and dictating what you will do with our rightful property?" The Professor growled then motioned to his troops, "Get them!"

A pretty large battle commenced in the laboratory between the best of Section 13's agents, the J-Team, Team Dragon and Drago's posse against the Hunts Clan. Each individual used their various talents to fight. Jackie and Captain Black used their military and martial arts training to subdue several soldiers, Uncle and Tohru cast various Chi Spells to defend themselves while Jake, Lao Shi and Drago's group used their dragon powers and martial arts to defeat their enemies. Drago and Eric attacked the Professor directly, the dragons punched and clawed at the professor who deflected their blows with his metallic arm. "You're so desperate to protect that box, what's inside?" Eric asked.

"Since I'm going to slay you both anyway and mount your hides I might as well tell you, inside that box are G-Cells," the Professor explained. Most everyone present were confused by what the professor said, but both Drago and Eric knew what he meant and their faces went pale.

"Gojira Cells?" Drago asked fearfully.

"Indeed, the cells of the supposed 'King of the Monsters'," the Professor answered.

"Are you insane?" Eric shouted, "How can you think you can just tamper with Godzilla's DNA? Haven't you heard the reports about what happens when the powers of Kaiju are misused? Disaster occurs! And you're using Godzilla's cells to boot? That's too dangerous!"

"You're right, Eric," Drago agreed, "foolish humans should not have such a powerful thing in their possession, they will only misuse and bring about great disaster, we must take it back, only true dragons like us know how to properly handle it."

"I think not!" the Professor exclaimed, "We have big plans for the G-Cells, if we can find out how to reverse engineer their energy and regenerative factors just imagine what they could do to make weapons and help our troops?"

"Well you don't have to worry about that because you're plans aren't going to succeed, we're bringing you in!" Captain Black announced.

"That's where you're wrong!" The Professor pointed his mechanical arm at Captain Black, transforming it into an arm cannon and fired a powerful energy blast at him. Meanwhile the Hunts Clan began using their secret weapon, the freezing electrical water cannons, to subdue Jake, Lao Shi and the Ice Gang. Drago just barely avoided being hit by one of their weapons.

When Eric saw the soldiers using the weapons he was once again filled with rage. He could feel himself once again mutating into his corrupted self and this time he didn't hold back, he knew this was the only way to survive. Dark Eric roared angrily and viciously and charged at the soldiers, easily pounding them into submission with a series of punches and fists. He then turned towards the Professor, who looked on with horror, but then regained his composure just in time to parry Dark Eric's incoming attack. Dark Eric used his fiery sword against the Professor while he in turn used his Hunts Staff and his mechanical arm to combat the mutant dragon with. The Professor transformed his arm into laser cannon and began rapidly firing lasers at Dark Eric but the blasts did little to slow him down while the dark dragon unleashed a volley of laser blasts from his hands and mouth at the Professor. Dark Eric then slashed the Professor with his fiery blade. The energies from the blade caused the Professor's cybernetic parts to start malfunction and sparks began popping off of him, giving him the appearance of a monster or villain from Power Rangers whenever they were injured. The Professor cried out as his whole body exploded from the energy overload, destroying him.

The backlash of energy reached the nearby computer monitors causing them to malfunction and explode as well. Everyone saw the danger and proceeded to evacuate. Drago used the distraction to snatch up the briefcase containing the G-Cells and he and his group split.

The J-Team and Team Dragon got out of the warehouse just in time to see it explode and law enforcement vehicles began surrounding the area. The two teams caught their breath while trying to recollect themselves. "Well, it looks like those Hunts Punks have been taken care of," Jake Long said.

"Yeah, but now Drago and his gang have the G-Cells," Jackie said with worry, "who knows what kind of evils they could do with them."

"Don't worry, Jackie," Captain Black said patting his friend's shoulder reassuringly, "we'll find them and catch them and hopefully get the G-Cells back before they do any real harm.

Uncle stepped forward and addressed Team Dragon, "I'm amazed how hard all of you work to ensure the magical community stays safe and hidden from those that could wish it hard," Uncle bowed his head, "As a Master Chi Magician I thank all of you for your efforts and I hope you still continue to endure and prevail."

Lao Shi and Jake Long were especially touched by Uncle's speech and bowed their heads. "We will do our best, and we salute you for battling many great evils in this world like Shendu and his kin, we hope you someday defeat Drago for good," Lao Shi said, "and it has been an honor and a privilege making new friends like yourselves."

"Yeah, the J-Team and Team Dragon make a great double team," Jade said excitedly, "we should work together more often!"

"Totally!" Jake said in agreement, "Whenever you guys are in New York look us up!" The two teams shook hands with their new partners and friends before departing.

"Goodbye, good luck with fighting Drago!"

"Thanks, and good luck fighting the Hunts Clan!"

Outside the city limits Drago and his posse were making their escape. The dragon hybrids had made their escape quickly after Dark Eric had destroyed Professor Mythosbane. Eric had since reverted back to his normal self again, having satisfied his rage. Still Eric was plagued with guilt, he had taken a life, perhaps not an innocent life, but a life nonetheless. "Eric, you did great, that old fool had it coming," Drago said to Eric, trying to console him, "Come on, we need to take these G-Cells far away so that they won't fall into human hands again." The dragons continued on their way. Before New York vanished from view Eric glanced back one last time, he wondered if he could ever associate himself with his new friends. He quickly put it out of his mind as he continued on his way.

_Okay, this marks the end of the American Dragon saga. I'll admit that I didn't work as hard on this chapter as my other ones, if you notice the second half of this chapter isn't so great. The reason behind this is because I was originally going to upload this as 2 seperate chapters and while I was writing the second chapter (the second half of this) the file became corrupted and ruined and so I had the displeasure of having to write it all over again and I just was feeling way too lazy and exhausted, especially when I worked so hard on the original. Despite this I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I hope that you'll continue to stay with this story._


End file.
